Summary
- Patrick Gibson studied Michael C. Hall’s Dexter voice, but also aimed to make young Dexter’s voice unique for the prequel series.
- Michael C. Hall will narrate Dexter: Original Sin, making it crucial for Gibson to capture his voice accurately.
- Gibson’s portrayal of a teenage Dexter in the 1990s focuses on the character’s development and moral code, balancing homage with originality.
Dexter: Original Sin star Patrick Gibson explains how he captured Dexter’s voice for the prequel series. With Clyde Phillips once again returning as showrunner, the upcoming Showtime series follows Dexter as he begins his career with the Miami Metro police department in 1991. Other than Gibson as a younger version of the titular serial killer, who takes over the role from Michael C. Hall, Dexter: Original Sin‘s cast also includes Christian Slater, Molly Brown, Christina Milian, James Martinez, Alex Shimizu, Reno Wilson, Patrick Dempsey, and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
During an interview with The Wrap at San Diego Comic-Con, Gibson explained how he captured Dexter’s voice for the prequel series, Original Sin. The star says he fell asleep listening to Dexter’s voice in order to get it right. However, he didn’t want his voice to sound exactly like Hall’s since he made the character “so idiosyncratic and himself.” Instead, Gibson tried to capture what the character’s voice would sound like 10 or 15 years earlier. Read his full comments below:
He has a very specific kind of tone and intonation itself. So I spent a long time studying that. And then honestly, once we go on set, it’s like, you kind of have what comes out, come out. And I think, if Dexter was like a mirror impression, you would lose all of that kind of charm that Dexter had. So it was really just about having it not bump with the voiceover and sound like the same person, but 10 years, 15 years earlier.
Michael C. Hall’s Return Makes Young Dexter’s Voice Even More Important
Hall Will Narrate The Prequel Series
At San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Hall will be narrating Dexter: Original Sin. In turn, it’s even more important that Gibson’s young Dexter voice closely captures Hall’s, since the two voices will be heard side by side in the same show. If Gibson’s voice isn’t up to snuff, it will stick out like a sore thumb, which is why the actor went to such great lengths to get Hall’s voice right, including his specific tone and intonation.
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Michael C. Hall’s role as younger Dexter’s Dark Passenger voiceover narrator in Dexter: Original Sin makes his charming character much more sinister.
However, Gibson also made sure that his young Dexter voice was more than just a “mirror impression” of his predecessor. While Gibson did closely study Hall’s performance, he also considered the context of the timeline. Dexter: Original Sin is set in the 1990s and depicts the titular serial killer as a teenager who is just beginning to act on his murderous impulses and, under the guidance of his father Harry, develops the moral code that is so central to the original series.
Since Dexter is several years younger and still a teenager in Original Sin, it makes sense that Gibson’s voice doesn’t sound exactly like Hall’s, whose character is about 35 years old when the original series begins. It’s certainly difficult stepping into the shoes of an iconic character like Dexter, but it sounds like Gibson put a lot of thought and preparation into striking that perfect balance between imitating Hall’s Dexter and trying to make the character his own. Hopefully, the first time Gibson’s voice is heard in Dexter: Original Sin, it lives up to the hype.
Dexter: Original Sin
premieres in December.
Source: The Wrap