Following his landing a thirteenth Emmy nomination yesterday, John Lithgow has spoken about his upcoming brief appearance in Showtime’s “Dexter” revival this Fall.
Last month came the news the veteran actor would be returning for the ten-episode revival of the series, but would only be on set for one day which suggested only a cameo.
Lithgow starred in the original series run as Arthur Mitchell/The Trinity Killer, a family man and serial killer who served as the ‘big bad’ of the show’s fourth season and for which Lithgow won his fifth Emmy. The character was also dead by the season’s end which suggested his appearance here would be in a flashback or dream sequence.
Speaking with Deadline, Lithgow confirmed he was literally only on the set for one afternoon but it was enough to learn some surprising revelations about what the show is up to:
“I learned that it’s completely different from [the original series]. Kind of like Perry Mason, it’s a reimagination. They don’t take it into a different era, but it’s in a different part of the world, a different part of the country, and a whole new cast of characters… there are all sorts of wonderful surprises and callbacks from the first few seasons.”
He wouldn’t go into detail about how he returns but says: “we saw the end of the Trinity Killer so that by definition means it’s a flashback.”
Then he added: “it was just wonderful to rejoin that gang – including Michael and Jennifer Carpenter and [showrunner] Clyde Phillips.” That news came as a surprise as Carpenter hadn’t been confirmed to be returning at this point.
Subsequently, sources close to the production have confirmed to the trade that Carpenter is indeed coming back. The actress starred as Dexter Morgan’s sister Deb throughout the series and was famously killed in the show’s series finale. How she’ll figure back into it is not clear.
Clancy Brown serves as the primary villain of the new run, the unofficial mayor of the small town of Iron Lake. The new “Dexter” is currently in production and expected to debut in the Fall.
