With Dexter: Resurrection coming soon to Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, we sat down with Krysten Ritter (“Mia/Lady Vengeance”), Eric Stonestreet (“Al/Rapunzel”), and David Dastmalchian (“Gareth/Gemini Killer”) to discuss the highly anticipated continuation of the Dexter saga.
In our conversation, the trio opened up about their twisted characters, how they approached portraying killers with unique codes and quirks, and what we can expect when Dexter Morgan returns to face both his past and new threats.
Watch our full video interview with Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet, and David Dastmalchian below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcription. Plus, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Krysten, Mia forms a quick connection with Dexter. Without giving too much away, do you think she sees in him the same moral code—or darkness—that he sees in her?
KRYSTEN: I think there's real intrigue. She wants to know more the second she sees him, and I think she finds him kind of sexy, so she goes after him. She's somebody who, you know, really dials into somebody and, yeah, getting to work opposite Michael C. Hall and play this delicious, over the top, glamorous, slightly deranged serial killer. It was like a theme park ride.
ERIC: That’s a good description of it - the haunted house at a theme park.
KRYSTEN: Totally, the dark, twisted one that’s kind of scary.
ROHAN: Eric, there’s a line early on where Al talks about balancing family life with being a serial killer. In preparing for the role, did you dive into how real-life killers compartmentalize so effectively?
ERIC: You know, I have a family life and a balance that - nothing as dark as Al - but, you know, we all do that in a sense, and so, you know, you can't, as an actor, think of it as like, well, I'm balancing my family life with murdering people. You have to make it something that's more relatable to you as the performer. So, I think I did that in a lot of ways, and again, it's like, what's written on the page is that I kill people, right? So, I don't really have to put any more mustard on that. What I have to do is create a character that you don't feel you would ever see coming in a million years, which was really fun for me, and coming into the hallway there in that episode, and singing Mamma Mia and seeing Dexter was just a dream come true in that moment. So, you know, I hope I was successful in making people feel weirded out.
ROHAN: David, when we first meet Gareth, there’s a sense of weariness to him. Has the weight of being the infamous Gemini Killer started to catch up with him—or is there something deeper going on beneath the surface?
DAVID: Oh, absolutely not. The weight of the Gemini Killer, being the Gemini Killer, getting to be on the FBI’s Most Wanted list at the top means he's just like, this extra time going to do things like gathering with people is kind of like, there's better ways he could spend his time, but he does need to finance his behaviors and his proclivities, so everything is a little bit beneath him at this point. He's a bit of a snob.
ERIC: I mean, I think they even say it. Doesn't Neil Patrick Harris say about your character, like you were the creepiest guy. Like, when you talk about who had a harder job to lift, it's like, well, he's coming into it immediately. Everybody's like, well, he looks like a serial killer.
DAVID: Yeah, when Scott goes, oh, I was writing this and I said, oh, we got to get David Dastmalchian for this role, I go, what does that say about me? I don't know how to take that, but I do.
KRYSTEN: I was so excited when Scott told me you were doing it. Also, we've been trying to work together for a hundred years.
DAVID: For a long time!
ERIC: I was excited because we're both from Kansas City, and we see each other every summer for the last six years doing a charity event in Kansas City, so what a crazy collision of friends in this moment.
DAVID: So cool. It's like the Justice League, except serial killers, yes.
KRYSTEN: So exciting!
ROHAN: For all three of you—what can you tease about how your characters might try to avoid ending up on Dexter’s table?
DAVID: I think that Gemini is going to avoid Dexter's table because I have an upper hand. Dude, it’s a secret. Gemini is very good at keeping secrets. One of the best at keeping secrets, and the secrets that I have give me an advantageous edge over Dexter, and it's going to be really fun to reveal for the audience what those secrets are.
ERIC: I think Al would love to go to Dexter's table and have some food and some delightful treats and snacks. I think that sounds great. What's Dexter's table?
DAVID: Don't worry about it. Don’t even think about it. It’s okay.
ERIC: Okay, don't even think about? Alright!
KRYSTEN: And Mia, obviously, they have a little dating situation, because Dexter relates to the fact that Lady Vengeance seemingly has a code, so I won't give anything away beyond that, but there’s a different dynamic with Mia and Dexter.
DEXTER: RESURRECTION, a continuation of DEXTER®: NEW BLOOD, takes place weeks after Dexter Morgan (Hall) takes a bullet to the chest from his own son, as he awakens from a coma to find Harrison (Jack Alcott) gone without a trace. Realizing the weight of what he put his son through, Dexter sets out for New York City, determined to find him and make things right. But closure won’t come easy. When Miami Metro’s Angel Batista (David Zayas) arrives with questions, Dexter realizes his past is catching up to him fast. As father and son navigate their own darkness in the city that never sleeps, they soon find themselves deeper than they ever imagined—and that the only way out is together.