Dexter: Q & A

Ahead of Thursday’s season premiere of Dexter here is a selection from a cast Q & A at Comic-Con earlier this year, supplied to TV Tonight.

Cast:
MCH: Michael C. Hall
JC: Jennifer Carpenter
JL: John Lithgow
JB: Julie Benz

Q1: Why do you think Dexter has been so well received at Comic-Con, which is primarily an event for fans of science fiction and comics?
MCH: Well, Dexter isn’t based on a graphic novel, but it has the feel of something that may well have been based on a graphic novel, I think there’s certainly, along with many other things going on, a superhero element to the character, and I think he as a character captures the fascination of Comic-Con.

Q3: Can we know to what extent fatherhood is going to affect Dexter?
MCH: Well, I think the theory of being a father was something that for all it’s conventionality appealed to Dexter in that it was an act of rebellion against his father, he was making choices that were choices that his father told him that he’d never have the right to make, the reality of those choices, now that he lives in a home with Rita, two step kids, and a new born flesh and blood child of his own, is something else entirely and I think from a logistical standpoint he didn’t appreciate just how trapped it might make him feel and how difficult it would be to exercise his compulsions. That’s sort of where we find him at the beginning.

Q4: Mr. Lithgow, can I get a comment about how you will approach the acting portion of what you’re doing, are you researching killers and do you as an actor need to separate yourself in a major way from your character or do you try and take on the method approach?
JL: I’m not very good company these days. You know, this has been such a fascinating experience for me, I’ve really never, just the entire process is brand new, I was offered this part on a Wednesday night, in the month of May, and the following morning at eleven AM, I met with John and Clyde in my agent’s office, with my agent, my agent was told to leave, in no uncertain terms, and I was enjoined to a code of silence, and in the next 45 minutes, they told me everything that I cannot tell you. I learned every detail of my character and his story over twelve episodes, and this was purely to persuade me to play the part. I never would have, if I had just accepted the role, I never would have known what I was about to do. As a result, I’m working with a whole bunch of people who have no idea what the story is, and I do. Like I have a hope diamond in my pocket.

Q5: Have you looked at any of the serial killer characters of reality?
JL: No, I really have paid no attention, I put all my faith in the writers. They are instructing me exactly how to play this part, and it’s a wonderful collaboration and what’s so fun about that is, the secret I get to keep from just about everybody. I had it in my power, today in front of 4,000 people, to speak one sentence that will send everybody rushing out of the room, Twittering the world. But I’m not going to do it.

Q7: This question is for Michael. Is the fact Dexter is a dad going to change his murder skills somehow?
MCH: Well that’s a ritual that continues to evolve and that’s very important to him, I think from a logistical standpoint certainly, in the first episode we see him just dealing with the fact that he doesn’t have as much time as he’d like to have, which creates in him, and he’s also somewhat sleep deprived, so that probably creates a frantic energy, relatively speaking, that we haven’t seen, characterize his kills before, but the essential part of the ritual remains, I mean I think it’s in his kills that Dexter experiences the most authentic version of human connection.

Q8: Seeing as you guys know so little about the script, how often and how hard is it to respond to fans who want to tell you exactly where they think the story should go?
JC: I prefer not knowing, because it unfolds like life, so it’s much easier to play, and I would hate to lie to a fan, (laughs) so it makes it a lot easier.

Q10: Are we going to finally see Deb happier and have a storyline in a healthy relationship?
JC: Right. The only thing I know to say to that is, I feel like Deb more than any other character on the show has evolved more publicly and she is an effective learner, so lessons aren’t wasted on her, so maybe now in this season, more than any other, you’ll see her move out from under the shadow of Harry and sort of unplug certain cords that don’t fit with Dexter and every move she makes will be about herself, so I don’t know if she will be happy in the end, but it will be the most authentic I think she’s ever been.

Q11: Is the plan to start the season with the newborn baby already there? How’s it going to change each of your characters, especially for the new mom, Rita?
JB: Amazing. She had the most amazing pregnancy, never really saw it. (laughs) No, we start with the baby, the baby’s already born, so no messy birthing, thank god, (laughs) and Rita’s obviously, this is her third time being a mom, and she finally has it all, I mean, she has the husband that she’s always dreamed about having, she has the beautiful home, the healthy kids and she’s in a very grounded earth mother place, I mean she’s just extremely, her life is exactly where she wants it to be.

Q18: I’m curious what’s going on with the iPhone game, do you have any details on that, and is there a story that fits into Dexter and for Michael what was it like being involved in the video game process?
MCH: I was pretty much involved from the beginning, in a lot of the technological… I’m kidding, I don’t know anything about video games. But I did record the voice over element and got to take a look at some of the graphics, and I’ve got to say working on the set everyday, they’ve recreated the police precinct for example, the geography of the place is identical to what it feels like to walk through it, it’s really amazing what they’ve done from what I’ve seen. What was the other part of the question?

Q21: I wondered how it’s been being these characters from the start and how it has changed.
MCH: Well it’s a crazy thing to make an open ended commitment to a character, there’s a beginning and an indeterminate middle and who knows when the end will be. Thankfully, in my case and I think for all of us, they are characters who have dimension and capacity for growth and change, which is good, because we change along with them, or they change along with us. It’s nice to maybe get away from it, have a hiatus to catch your breath and maybe do other things. One of the risks that I found both doing Six Feet Under and this show is that, or it’s not necessarily a risk, but a dynamic that happens is that, your idea of acting and your idea of playing that specific character become fused (laughs), so it’s nice to do other things, flex different muscles, but if you’re going to play something for a long time, it’s good to play something in a world as rich as this one.

Q24: This is a question for Michael, what will be the relationship between Dexter and John Lithgow’s character? Will he be a kind of father figure to him literally because Dexter is now a father?
MCH: That certainly is a part of what informs, a part of what the attraction is, and Dexter, whether he consciously recognizes it or not, continues to, I don’t know, fall prey to, but he has a desire for human connection, whether he acknowledges it or not, and to be able to connect with someone who has so much seemingly in common with him is something that has it’s appeal for sure.

Q25: Deb is such a tough character on the show, she’s an incredibly strong woman. What’s the trait in Deb that’s most like Jennifer Carpenter?
JC: It’s funny because I was going to say to your question, like when I started with Deb, I wanted to like pick her up and say I’m going to teach you a few things. And now, I feel like she’s doing that to me. And I think that both of us, have these ravenous beasts in us, and I don’t think I really knew mine was there. And she’s known hers was there and she’s just been waiting for the chain to loosen so she can attack. And I’m hoping that mine wakes up. Do you know, I don’t know if that makes any sort of sense, but I’m learning the way that she’s learning in her work, about her life, I’m learning in my work about me, and it’s terrifying. (laughs)

Dexter returns 8:30pm Thursday on Showcase.