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Krysten Ritter calls her 'Dexter' killer psychotic, deranged, playful
1 of 5 | Left to right, Eric Stonestreet, Uma Thurman, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael C. Hall, Krysten Ritter, David Dastmalchian and Peter Dinklage star in "Dexter: Resurrection," airing Fridays. Photo by Zach Dilgard/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME
NEW YORK, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Jessica Jones icon Krysten Ritter says Lady Vengeance, the serial killer she plays on Dexter: Resurrection, thinks she is a personal and professional match for the titular anti-hero.
"My character takes an interest in Dexter (Michael C. Hall) right away. There is a natural chemistry and attraction there and she wants to know more. She's a loner. She is a femme fatale," Ritter told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"She is very confident, but she's also psychotic and deranged and playful and she is a part of this serial killer group because she likes the money and it's intriguing to her."
A central story-line for the New York-set, Dexter sequel series is how billionaire philanthropist Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage) is secretly an avid true-crime artifact collector who pays notorious killers -- including Lady Vengeance, Al/Rapunzel (Eric Stonestreet), Garreth/the Gemini Killer (David Dastmalchian), Lowell/the Tattoo Collector (Neil Patrick Harris) and the Dark Passenger, whom Dexter is impersonating -- to come to his posh apartment for dinner.
Uma Thurman plays Prater's right-hand woman, Charley.
Modern Family alum Stonestreet calls Al, "a fun-loving, Midwestern guy, a father of three with one more on the way."
"In my mind, he's a salesman travels around and sells something sort of mundane and I think he gets a trip to New York City every year and gets to get some souvenirs for the family, gets a little extra money for the old lady... and camaraderie," he said. "He gets to be around what I think HE probably thinks is these weirdos."
Murderbot and Reprisal actor Dastmalchian said his Dexter character is notable because he kills people in pairs.
"I like to pose them together," he explained. "It's very fun to create these tableaus. I imagine Gareth is a bit of Holden Caufield (from The Catcher in the Rye) meets Patrick Bateman (from American Psycho)."
While the dinners serve as a grisly type of voyeurism for Prater, they also invite the rival killers to share war stories and tricks of the trade.
Dastmalchian likened the gathering to a support group.
"There's a thing that you don't want to talk about at work, you don't want to talk about, even maybe, around your family, but there is that sacred space where you can go," he said.
"It's almost like a 12-step group, where these people can get together and actually let down their guards, be themselves and getting to watch these actors, who I love so much, and are my friends, do that, was an honor."
Dastmalchian said it was also exciting to see Miami native Dexter operate in a new setting.
"Imagine watching one of your favorite hunters, all of a sudden entering a new terrain where they're on a totally different stomping ground and then we all get together," he added.
"I love the movie Clue and playing the game Clue when I was a kid, so there was something about this that felt like we were in a much darker, higher-stakes Clue."
Stonestreet said he is a long-time fan of Hall and his Dexter franchise, which dates back to 2006 and even includes a prequel starring Patrick Gibson as a younger version of the murderer, who has vowed to only kill bad people.
"It's awesome," Stonestreet said. "There's just no other way to say it. We're actors, but we're also fans of things, as well, and, all of a sudden, you're across the way from Uma Thurman and you can't believe it."
In keeping with the dark comedy of the series, the stars also had plenty of room to ad-lib lines of dialogue.
"There's a lot of improv, especially with this one. Eric Stonestreet is the king of improv, which is really exciting," Ritter said.
"There were a couple of times where we had to be off over there doing something and I was like: 'Oh, thank God I'm sitting next to Eric because he's going to bring it,' and even when he's off-camera, he brings so much to the on-set experience. I think it really helped bring levity and and camaraderie to all of those scenes where we're all together."
Stonestreet said he was only able to do this because his scene partners were receptive to it.
"If I didn't feel comfortable adding jokes, then, it wouldn't be fun to me," he added. "I don't want to be on a set like that, really, for the truth of it, but Michael did tell me -- when I went back after shooting a couple of scenes or weeks or days on the show -- 'i think every one of your improvisations is in the cut that I just saw.'"
"They were so good," Dastmalchian agreed.
"It's not about the goodness. It's about the space that they needed to fill," Stonestreet said.
"Writers can't write for every moment that's not known yet, so, all of a sudden, we're like: 'Hey, you're walking towards the charcutarie board. Fill that space with something.' And I'm like, 'OK, here we go!'"
Dastmalchian pointed out that not everything Stonestreet came up with was intended to be funny, however.
"One of the great things in comedy, I think, is you can set people up, get the audience off kilter a little bit and then you can smack them down," Dastmalchian said.
"But I got to see him do something pretty scary creepy that was alive in the moment, an improvisation, which was pretty terrifying."
The show is now airing on Showtime and streaming on Paramount+
'Dexter: Resurrection': Michael C. Hall, Uma Thurman attend premiere
Star Michael C. Hall arrives on the red carpet at the world premiere of "Dexter: Resurrection" in New York City on July 9, 2025. Photo by Derek French/UPI | License Photo
