Christian Slater's Harry Morgan Casting Is Ironic After Playing Serial Killer JD In Heathers
Christian Slater being cast in the upcoming Dexter prequel series creates a full circle moment more than three decades in the making. Slater will play Dexter Morgan's father Harry, one of the several key characters from the Dexter original series who are set to return in the highly anticipated prequel series Dexter: Original Sin. Dexter: Original Sin will feature a new actor as the legendary titular character for the first time in the franchise's celebrated history after Michael C. Hall portrayed Dexter for nine seasons.
The upcoming Dexter Prequel series will chronicle the beginning of Dexter Morgan's forensics career at the Miami Metro Police Department, which will bring back the original characters of Angel Batista, María LaGuerta, Vince Masuka, and Dexter's adoptive sister Debra. The Dexter prequel series recently cast Patrick Dempsey of Grey's Anatomy fame as a new character in the story world. Dempsey will play Captain Aaron Spencer, a fellow police officer of Harry Morgan, Dexter's father, who had previously been portrayed by James Remar.
Slater played a serial killer in the 1989 classic
Slater will play a younger version of Harry Morgan in Dexter: Original Sin, who is a cop who guides his son's murderous impulses into being a vigilante serial killer. In 1989's Heathers, Slater played Jason "JD" Dean, a teenage serial killer who at first tries to twist his murders to appear morally based as he killed the mean popular kids at school. While Dexter and JD operate based on completely different modus operandi, they both at one point determine the murders through a mutual sense of doing society at large a favor.
With Slater portraying Harry instead of Dexter Morgan in Dexter: Original Sin, he will take on the role of helping a college-aged Dexter channel his "dark passenger" for societal good. In the Dexter original series, Harry was a well-respected police officer who adopted Dexter after his mother had been brutally murdered. When he discovered that Dexter had several signs of a budding psychopath, he developed a code that he instilled in Dexter to only kill other murderers and serial killers.
Dexter: Original Sin's Timeline Makes Christian Slater's Casting Irony Even Greater
Dexter: Original Sin is set in 1991, only two years after Heathers was released in theaters, meaning that the timeline and sentiment of that era underscored in Heathers will also be very ingrained in the Dexter Prequel. The notion of Dexter as a socially integrated serial killer works better in the 1990s anyway and makes it more plausible that the serial killer in training wouldn't get caught. Slater proved to be an exceptional albeit shady mentor in Mr. Robot and is poised to add a great deal of complexity to Harry Morgan's character in the upcoming Dexter prequel series.
Both projects are set around the same time period. This gives the casting a fascinating layer of irony. Slater, who played a teenage serial killer in Heathers, is now going to play the father of a serial killer. That's a pretty cool bit of symmetry, isn't it?
Christian Slater's Past Roles Highlight His Ability to Play Complex Characters
Christian Slater has a long and successful career in Hollywood. He's known for his intensity and his ability to play both charming and dangerous characters. He's got a knack for making viewers feel like they really know him, even if the characters he plays are morally ambiguous. That's exactly what Dexter: Original Sin needs. Harry Morgan is a complex character. He's a father who loves his son, but he's also a cop who is willing to bend the rules to get what he wants. Slater has the range to pull off this duality.
Slater's career has been filled with roles that showcase his range, from his breakout performance in Heathers to his Emmy-winning role in Mr. Robot. He’s played everything from a cunning con man in The Name of the Rose to a heartbroken lover in The Ballad of Little Jo. With his vast experience and his ability to inhabit complex characters, he is perfectly positioned to bring a new dimension to Harry Morgan in Dexter: Original Sin.
