On the occasion of Dexter turning 20, the actor recently sat down with Gold Derby to talk about the show and reflect on it two decades later.
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| James Remar and Michael C. Hall at the Premiere of Dexter in 2006. (Photo credit: E. Charbonneau/WireImage for Showtime) |
October 1 marked exactly 20 years since the original Dexter series premiered on Showtime, and after all these years, the show is still here, with Michael C. Hall at the center of it all and the franchise as relevant as ever.
Of course, back in 2006, and even in 2005 when the OG pilot episode was filmed, no one could have imagined that Dexter would still be such a major part of the television landscape two decades later.
What makes it even more interesting is that some of the people involved with the show, including its own star Michael C. Hall, weren't convinced that the concept of a serial killer antihero as the main character would actually work. At the time, there was a feeling that audiences simply weren't ready for something like Dexter in the mid-2000s.
As it turns out, they were wrong in the best possible way.
To mark the show's 20th anniversary, Hall spoke with Marcus James Dixon from Gold Derby and looked back at his early days with the series, including just how uncertain the future of Dexter seemed when they were making the pilot.
Michael C. Hall Never Expected Dexter to Last This Long
Hall explained that, while he already felt they were onto something when they filmed the pilot, the concept was still so unusual that his main hope was simply that they would be given the chance to make a full season.
At the time, he wasn't thinking about playing Dexter Morgan for years, returning to the character after the original series ended, or still discussing the show 20 years later. The idea that all of that could happen was nowhere near his radar.
Looking back now, Hall described the whole journey as something that still feels wild to him.
Hall Believes He's Changed as an Actor Over the Past 20 Years
Hall also reflected on how much he has actually evolved as an actor during the two decades since Dexter first premiered.
He noted that actors bring all of their accumulated experience to a role, not only from their work but also from simply living life. After two more decades of both acting and life experience, Hall feels that there is "hopefully a greater richness available" to him now than there was when he was relatively young.
That evolution could make his return as Dexter even more interesting, especially as the character continues to go through new stages of his life in Dexter: Resurrection.
Michael C. Hall on Dexter's Complicated Relationship With Awards
When it comes to Dexter and awards season, the relationship has definitely had its... ups and downs. While the OG series received plenty of recognition over the years, Hall also knows that awards can be a complicated part when it comes to acting.
He jokingly acknowledged that winning is obviously more enjoyable than not winning, but he also pointed out how subjetcive acting awards really are. In his view, actors aren't all competing in the same race because everyone is doing something completely different, making direct comparisons difficult.
Ultimately, Hall explained that he tries to keep awards in perspective because they are not the reason he does the work in the first place. At the same time, he admitted that receiving that kind of recognition is definitely nice.
And 20 years after Dexter first arrived on television through Showtime, Hall's continued connection to the character is actually a bigger achievement than any individual award could ever be.