Edward James Olmos Talks Dexter Season 6 & Professor Gellar

In the current issue of Long Island Pulse Magazine, Olmos speaks candidly with writer Aileen Jacobson. Whether they’re saints or sinners—a leader of the last remnant of mankind, a courageous teacher or the nemesis of a sensitive seeker—the characters played by Edward James Olmos are generally men of substance and strength, memorable standouts in the films or TV shows in which they appear.
So it’s no surprise that when the producers of Dexter were looking for a new character for their hit Showtime series about a conflicted serial killer who murders other killers, they chose Olmos.
The new role builds on Olmos’ impressive body of work, including his previous turns as Admiral William Adama in the 2003-2009 science fiction series Battlestar Galactica, as a high school teacher who inspired struggling inner-city students to learn calculus in the 1988 movie Stand and Deliver, and as the sinister officer Gaff in the 1982 film Blade Runner. 

Can you tell me a little about your character in Dexter?
The character I’m playing is a professor of theology, and he’s pretty much the inspiration to one individual in particular—the role that’s played by Colin Hanks. I really can’t say that he’s a bad guy, because that’s the whole gist of the series. That would be a spoiler. The character definitely motivates a lot of people, with his theology studies and his understanding of theology. Read more after the jump...



This is a really dark show and you’ve been in other shows that have been dark. What do you think is the appeal of, in this case, a very gory show?
Probably the biggest draw is the story and the lead character of Dexter. Michael C. Hall does a great job bringing to life the character and I think that’s the reason why people like the character. What he does is very, very bad, but you kind of understand why he’s doing it, and that goes back to the writing. You could have someone else doing the performance and it would be too dark. This is probably the darkest show I’ve ever been a part of in my life. I don’t think there’s been a darker show on television, ever.

How does it affect you, when you’re doing something so dark?
I don’t look at the whole script. I just look at my part. My part in it is a completely different sense of understanding from the rest of it.

So you’re not in a lot of scenes with lots of blood and guts?
I think everybody in the whole show is in that. It’s always centered around the worst cases of homicide and brutality that have ever been seen. Our show kind of mirrors a lot of the situations that society is going through at the present time.

But you don’t become depressed?
Oh no, no. waracter is working on a spiritual level

You’re playing a theologian in Dexter. Are you religious yourself?
Spiritual, not religious.

Click here to read the full interview.