New castmates Julia Jones and Jack Alcott also preview the Showtime revival.
The Dexter revival is just days away from premiering on Showtime, and Michael C. Hall and his castmates were on hand Monday night in New York City to celebrate the return of the series eight years after the original run.
On Dexter: New Blood, which takes place 10 years later, Dexter has assumed a quiet life under a new alias, Jim Lindsay, in a small, nondescript town called Iron Lake, Minnesota. He's dating the town sheriff and hasn't killed since he left Miami. But the temptation to kill is always just a footstep away, and the arrival of his now-grown teenage son, Harrison (played by Jack Alcott), complicates Dexter's plans.
Hall spoke to ET on the red carpet at the premiere, and he noted that the decade away afforded them ample story opportunity to reacclimate to the "new" Dexter Morgan.
"A lot of it had to do with the storytelling opportunities that the time lapse afforded us, most notably that Harrison has grown into a young man and can have a more sort of eye-to-eye relationship with Dexter. So that was a big part of it," the actor and executive producer said. "And also I just needed to take a little time to catch my breath and do some other things."
Hall expressed excitement over getting to enter back into the world he knew so well -- and to also right some creative wrongs along the way. "It was definitely a part of our motivation to get to replace the bad taste that was in some people's mouths," he acknowledged.
While Hall stayed mum when asked if other original Dexter cast members outside of the previously announced Jennifer Carpenter and John Lithgow will be popping by in some way, shape or form, he certainly left the door open.
"I can't reveal anything. I don't want to spoil anything but it was great," he said of reuniting with Carpenter and Lithgow in particular. "I think it was really important actually to have Jennifer most notably, most significantly. But the other people too, to provide that connective tissue to the old world that we're familiar with."
Jones, who plays Dexter's new girlfriend, Angela Bishop, joked that the reason why they're revisiting Dexter is "because Michael was ready," she said with a laugh.
"I think that's the answer, but it's also a combination of enough time is passing that first of all for story reasons, Harrison is old enough to come back in. I think that was compelling," she explained. "I think we needed to find something that felt new but also connected to the original series and I think enough has changed in the world since then that the landscape can feel different and relevant -- even though we kept a lot of the same touchstones."
"It happened this way for a reason and I think it's exactly what they wanted to do and I think that they are really happy with it," Jones continued. "People are going to not feel the same way that they did. [It's] totally different, totally different."
Alcott recalled getting the call that he had been cast as Dexter's son, describing the experience as "insane."
"I knew next to nothing about the show at that point. I watched the first season while I was filming to get sort of an idea and actually, not even until the end of the audition process. I was about to do a chemistry read... I watched the first season and then it sort of really set in," he said, revealing that he's currently on a mini Dexter watch and in the middle of season 4, which features Lithgow's Trinity Killer. "John is absolutely terrifying!" the young actor expressed.
Alcott shared why it's been a joy to be included as part of a show that's broken boundaries. "It's a show that's been such a central part of social [consciousness] and ushered in a kind of new era of TV," he said. "It wasn't the first anti-hero but he was one of the first anti-heroes. It has influenced so much of our television today and even as an homage, I think it's a brilliant character to revisit."
Dexter: New Blood premieres Sunday, Nov. 7 on Showtime. For more, watch below.
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