The actor who played young Dexter had to part with the character earlier than he hoped, but he still managed to snuck off something from the set.
It’s been a little more than three months since Dexter: Original Sin was cancelled— or, to put it more accurately, “unrenewed” by Paramount+. In the time since, a massive petition of over 100,000 fans has pushed for the prequel’s return, hoping the studio might reconsider.
But now that Dexter: Resurrection has been officially renewed for a second season, the situation feels far more settled. The network seems to have moved on, the demand didn’t sway them, and the cast is doing the same.
One of the actors stepping into his next chapter is Patrick Gibson, the breakout lead of the prequel series, who delivered a remarkable performance as a twenty-year-old Dexter Morgan, tracing his shift from promising student to emerging vigilante serial killer. His work actually captured us because it was grounded in careful study, not only of early Dexter’s psychology but also of Michael C. Hall’s mannerisms. And it paid off in a big way, and both fans and critics took notice.
Even though all that effort might feel bittersweet now that the series is over, Gibson is staying busy. The final month of 2025 (almost exactly a year after Original Sin first premiered) will find him back on stage in London. He’s set to appear as Tommy, in the theatre production Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo at the Young Vic, with performances beginning December 2nd.
As part of the lead-up to the premiere, the Young Vic interviewed him in a light, rapid-fire “73 Questions”-style segment. Naturally, Dexter: Original Sin came up, and Gibson, who like many actors is still brushng off the sting of a cancelled show, was asked a question every performer eventually gets: did he take anything from the set?
His answer was immediate, candid, and perfectly familiar with one of Dexter's habits.
“Yes I did. I stole a lot of business cards, from people that I killed.”
For us fans, what Paddy said hit instantly. Young Dexter claimed four victims in the first and only season of the prequel: Nurse Mary, Tony Ferrer, Levi Reed, and Captain Aaron Spencer. The idea of Gibson pocketing their character props actually feels like a nod to the trophy ritual the adult Dexter would one day adopt.
Actors are often surprisingly open when asked about keepsakes from sets, and Gibson’s reply is here to remind us just how much connection performers build with the characters they portray. And in the prequel's case, it only lasted 10 episodes, but it was hard enough.