The famous actor also discussed his character's relationship with Harry Morgan.
On the occasion of unveiling two first-look stills featuring Patrick Dempsey as Aaron Spencer and Sarah Michelle Gellar as Tanya Martin, Entertainment Weekly also interviewed both actors (you can read Sarah Michelle Gellar's interview here).
Dempsey, who plays the boss of Miami Metro Homicide, discussed adapting to the distinct fashion and hairstyles of the '90s for their characters and revealed that he signed on for just one year in the Dexter prequel.
If you’ve been following the news on Dexter Daily, you’re already aware that Patrick Dempsey sports a mustache in this new installment. One of the two stills released earlier today offers an official look at Dempsey as Aaron Spencer, and he shared that he was the one who suggested that Captain Aaron Spencer should have a mustache.
"I have to tell you, it was discovered accidentally," he admits to Entertainment Weekly. "I was on holiday and I hadn't shaved in a while. I shaved my beard off because we were getting ready to come home and I kept the mustache going, thinking, 'Maybe I should do this,' because I was looking at a lot of vintage training videos of Miami police in the '70s and they all had mustaches. And then my hair was long and I slicked it back and I sent the picture to makeup and hair and they loved the idea, and that's how it started."
Dempsey is aware that this look is "completely different than anything else" he's ever done before, and that was the actual point. "This is what I'm looking for, to do something where I'm able to physically transform," he says. "I've been fortunate enough to have a good long career and create a character that is beloved, so it's nice to have an opportunity to come in and [do something totally different]. Hopefully the fans will embrace this character — I think it helps, changing the look, so that people will look twice and go, 'Oh wait, what's going on here?" he continued: "It's fun to change the look, and it's fun to play a cop and a homicide detective," he says. "I haven't done that."
Captain Aaron Spencer took a very different route to the top. According to Dempsey, he and Harry, are best friends, "and there's a brotherhood there that goes back to the beginning of their careers. They've come up together. Aaron turns to Harry because he trusts him the most. And Aaron has a lot of respect within the group because of his wisdom and his humility."
Bringing the friendship between Aaron and Harry to life on screen was a seamless experience for Dempsey and Slater, who, like their characters, have known each other throughout their entire careers after appearing together in the 1991 film called Mobsters.
"It's funny because Christian and I worked together in the early '90s, so we were laughing and reminiscing about still being survivors in this business after 30 years," Dempsey says. "We laugh at our former younger selves and how ridiculous we were and where we've come from. We're going back to a time when we were, I guess, about the same age as young Dexter, so it's been fun to flash back and you realize just how fast time flies."
Does Aaron Spencer even suspect that Dexter is slowly becoming a serial killer in the prequel?
"He's known Dexter since he's very little, he's seen him grow up," Dempsey says. "My job is to figure out what's going on as the detective, and oversee what the detectives are doing. [Meanwhile] there is the father-son relationship and dark passenger and how he's trying to navigate that. As the series progresses, that voice gets louder and louder and it's harder and harder for Dexter to control that."
Since both Dempsey and Gellar are portraying new characters is there any possibility they could eventually find themselves on Dexter's table?
"I've only signed on for one year, so who knows?" Dempsey teases. "I love being on the show, but you never know what could happen."
And that's something that both actors joke about all the time to each other on the set. "I've learned my lesson about what it takes to be the character whose name is in the title," Gellar jokes. "It's really fun to not be the character whose name is in the title. How nice is it to not have all the pressure?"
Dempsey agrees, adding, "After coming out of being on shows for a very long time, the one-year commitment is something that you can deal with because you want to balance out your life, and this is a nice balance, being part of an ensemble. We're very happy that Paddy's carrying it, and he's a fantastic Dexter."
Source: Entertainment Weekly