‘Dexter: New Blood’ — Michael C. Hall Always Wondered ‘What the Hell Happened to This Guy’ Before Revival
Ever since Dexter ended in 2013, fans and journalists have been asking for its return. Certainly every Showtime session with the Television Critics Association had a question along the lines of “Have you thought about bringing back Dexter?” Showtime was always open to it. It turns out Michael C. Hall was also one of those people.
Hall and producer Clyde Phillips were on a San Diego Comic-Con@Home panel discussing Dexter: New Blood. Hall and Phillips explained what finally convinced them to return to the series. The new series premieres Nov. 7 on Showtime.
‘Dexter’ actor Michael C. Hall: ‘I myself have also wondered what the hell happened to this guy?’
For eight years, Hall has been doing interviews about other shows and movies. Inevitably reporters would ask him if he’d play Dexter again. Although he was always noncommittal, Hall admitted he thought about his character long before Dexter: New Blood became a reality.
“It’s been, because of the way the show ended, a possibility that’s been up in the air for quite some time,” Hall said. “Yeah, it’s come up in different forms. It never felt quite right in terms of the story that was presented or in terms of the timing, but I think along with everybody on this panel and everybody who’s ever watched the show and is a fan of the show, I myself have also wondered what the hell happened to this guy.”
The reason Michael C. Hall agreed to ‘Dexter: New Blood’
After years of saying maybe, Dexter: New Blood finally felt right to Hall. Here’s why.
“I think enough time has passed and the storytelling opportunities were a lot more interesting, I think, for having had some time between the end and now,” Hall said. “It’s hard to point to just one thing but I think it’s certainly due in large part to the time that past, to a sense of readiness on my part and certainly the chance to collaborate again with Clyde and Scott [Reynolds] and with Marcos [Siega] directing. That was a huge part of what ultimately allowed me to take the leap of faith.”
Showtime put the pressure on to finally write the new series
Phillips himself was paying attention to those interviews Hall gave. Since Hall never said no, Phillips considered the possibilities.
“About once every year or so I would see a quote from Michael,” Phillips said. “Somebody would always ask Michael would you do another year of Dexter. And he says, ‘Well, I’m not going to say no.’ So then I would read that and I would call him. We’d talk it through and just couldn’t get the right take on it that would satisfy Michael and we think satisfy the fans.”
When Showtime decided they wanted Dexter: New Blood, Phillips got to work.
“And then finally, I got a call July 1st 2019 from Gary Levine who’s the president of Showtime saying, ‘We think now’s the time. Can you come up with something?’” Phillips said. “So I sat with my writing assistant, I was on Martha’s Vineyard, and I flew to New York and ran it to Michael’s apartment which is in a beautiful landmark building in New York. We sat and talked for a couple hours, ended up hugging it out and he said yes.”
Source: San Diego Comic-Con@Home
