In the autumn of 2006, the world came face to face with Dexter Morgan. Michael C. Hall shot to overnight fame, playing the complex part of the eponymous anti-hero in Dexter — a forensic technician specialising in bloodstain pattern analysis for the Miami Metro Police Department, who also led a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer, going after murderers who he felt had escaped the law.
Dexter, whose first season was derived from the 2004 novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay, but which subsequently worked independent of its source material, could have ended up as yet another serial-killer drama if it wasn’t powered by a compelling turn by Hall, then 35, who made his sociopathic protagonist both horrific and enigmatic.
In a freewheeling interview with t2 a few years ago, when asked what it felt like playing the good/bad serial killer, Hall had told us: “It’s hard to know what’s at the base... does he alternately fancy himself as someone who is good? Does he think he’s exceptional because he kills bad people? I think what may be the biggest challenge of playing the part is allowing seemingly opposite facets of his personality to co-exist. He lives and operates from a pretty grey space, despite the fact that he is able to do pretty decisive things. Whether they are good or bad, whether there is a light emerging from his fundamental darkness, or if he is a less savoury soul... it’s hard to say.”
The show’s winning mix of grotesque suspense and dark humour resulted in Dexter showing up for a whopping eight seasons, with its finale being one of the most watched in television history.
Eight years later, Dexter returned with a 10-episode limited series titled Dexter: New Blood, with Hall reprising the title role. Shot by his son Harrison at the end of that season, Dexter is now back with a new shot at life in the aptly-named Dexter: Resurrection, that streams on Amazon Prime Video today.
Over a recent video call, t2 chatted with Michael C. Hall on what makes this Dexter different, as well as the contribution made by the presence of Resurrection’s new heavyweight cast members — Uma Thurman, Peter Dinklage and Neil Patrick Harris.
In what ways does Dexter: Resurrection take forward the ethos of Dexter and also imbue freshness in the new season?
In Dexter: Resurrection, we meet Dexter right after he has been shot in the chest by his son (Harrison). It is an unsuccessful attempt to end his life, but I think it represents some sort of threshold that he has now passed through and is able to put the past in the past in a way that he hadn’t been able to earlier. He returns with a bit more wisdom and battle scars to a more essential sort of version of himself.
In that sense, I think Resurrection not only retains but returns to something fundamental about the magic of the show as it was originally conceived. And, of course, things are new because he has a new lease of life and he is in a completely new environment.
The New York City concrete jungle is unlike any environment we have ever seen him in. It is an urban environment in the same way Miami was but very different temperamentally, architecturally and logistically. He is hiding in plain sight in a brand new place and is, I think, reclaiming his identity in a way. A lot more water has flowed under the bridge and there are a lot more responsibilities. But he has made a new commitment to himself as a killer. He is honouring the code in a way he hasn’t for some time. While there is a lot of new, there is also something vital about the show’s core DNA that we are recapturing.
You first played Dexter two decades ago. As an actor, how do you keep the freshness alive in a character that has been part of you for so long?
The writers are the map makers and I am the guardian of my sense of Dexter’s truth. A lot of what makes or has helped make things feel fresh and new this time around had to do with the fact that circumstances would have led viewers and Dexter himself to believe that he shouldn’t even be here. He has a second chance. And in spite of all the storm and stress that inevitably characterises the life he leads, there is a sort of ebullience and effervescence that is new and feels very vital and enlivening.
At the same time, I have been playing the character for so long, my job in some ways is just to get out of the way and let it flow through me. A lot of the consideration that goes along with encountering and creating a character the first time is that work has been done, in a way. It is sort of like... just get out of the way and let it happen, or let him happen.
Uma Thurman, Peter Dinklage and Neil Patrick Harris... you have a couple of high-profile entrants this season. What do you think they bring to their respective roles and to the show that elevates the material?
It has been incredibly gratifying that we have been able to attract actors of that calibre to join us. They are all total pros, they are fantastic.... Characters just exist as words on a page until you encounter them. Stepping on set and encountering actors of this calibre embodying these characters was magical. There were no nooks and crannies to fill in, or blanks to fill in... they are fully realised, fully embodied, inhabited and expertly played. It was a thrill to share scenes with all of them and to see Dexter have a chance to go toe-to-toe with characters embodied by actors of that quality.
Michael C. Hall is the best man to play Dexter because...
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