Dexter: Resurrection got off to a strong start with the fictional serial killer’s son, Harrison, dismembering a body in one of the franchise’s goriest scenes yet.
During the series premiere, which aired on Sunday, July 13, Dexter’s (Michael C. Hall) son is now living in New York City after seemingly killing his father at the end of Dexter: New Blood. Harrison (Jack Alcott) doesn’t know that Dexter survived and is riddled with guilt while working at a luxury hotel.
Despite trying to curb his murderous side, Harrison snaps when one of the guests tries to sexually assault a woman. Harrison kills the guest to prevent him from harming more women in the future, which leads to a sequence where the body is dragged to another part of the hotel to be cut up and disposed of.
“That was a crazy day. Anything with a lot of practical effects is always equally exciting and daunting. There’s just a lot of literal stuff to work with,” Alcott, 26, exclusively told Us Weekly. “I remember the first time seeing the body and seeing the parts and being like, ‘Oh my God.’ I don’t know how you react to that. Then of course I’m tossing [the body parts] around.”
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Showtime’s spinoff to the original Dexter show didn’t hold back when it came to the gruesome details.
“Once we started shooting, the choreography for that sequence was very specific. There were a lot of inserts and seeing different pieces of the knife here. Obviously there are wide shots and all sorts of other angles. But there’s just very, very specific choreography for me,” Alcott explained. “From the order of [cutting up the body] parts, how the knife moves here before it goes up here and also to make sure to hide that blood moat because we’re going to see something shoot out.”
The actor found it to be quite technical, adding, “[We were keeping track] of the order in which the parts go into the trash bags and the way in which the knot is tied on the body bag. So the experience of shooting it, I feel like I almost didn’t really totally get to experience it because I was so zeroed in on the task at hand.”
Alcott found the experience challenging in the best way possible.
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“Fortunately and ironically, it is kind of exactly where Harrison is at. It’s almost as if he doesn’t experience it. He zeroes in on the task at hand and completes what needs to be completed,” he noted. “It’s not until after it’s done that we see his reaction to what he’s just taken part in.”
After reprising the role of Harrison, which he originated in Dexter: New Blood, Alcott reflected on the unconventional lessons he learned from playing an evolving serial killer.
“Putting yourself in the shoes of the character, you learn something on every set. You learn something from every story you tell. Because even if it’s a story or a character that’s close to you, it’s not all you unless you’re playing yourself,” he told Us. “So you’re going to experience something new, and you will take away something from every set.”
Dexter: Resurrection is available to stream on Paramount+ Fridays and airs on Showtime Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
