Sarah Michelle Gellar Calls ‘Dexter’ Character Her Dream Role

Sarah Michelle Gellar is known for her fierce roles, like Buffy Summers in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ But her latest role as Tanya Martin, a scientist in ‘Dexter: Original Sin,’ pushes her out of her comfort zone. At Comic-Con on Saturday, August 3, she shared her excitement with Variety about this new challenge. “I’m the scientist. You believe me as a scientist, right? I do science-y things,” Gellar joked, clearly enjoying her new role.

Set in the 90s, the prequel sees Gellar playing a forensics expert at the Miami Metro Police Department, a role rarely held by women at the time. “I’m used to playing these formidable women, and she’s no exception,” Gellar explained. “But she’s almost an even bigger exception because women didn’t run departments in those jobs. They certainly didn’t run the science departments, and they certainly didn’t do it in Miami.”

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Despite the challenges her character faces, Gellar found the experience rewarding. “My character had to be tough to be around the guys and stand her ground,” she said. “But being the only girl on set was actually my dream job!”

The Comic-Con panel, which included Gellar, Christian Slater, Molly Brown, and Patrick Gibson, also discussed ‘Dexter”s resurgence in popularity. ‘Dexter: Original Sin,’ a prequel to the original series that aired from 2006 to 2013, has topped the Neilsen charts recently.

Slater, who plays Dexter’s father, noted, “It definitely complements the original show, but it also gives more insight into those characters… even Dexter didn’t know certain things had happened before him being born.” He added that the prequel, while interconnected with the original series, explores new ideas in a different universe.

Gibson, taking on the role of young Dexter, previously played by Michael C. Hall, aimed to bring his spin to the character. He mentioned having discussions with Hall about how to approach the role. “This incarnation of Dexter exists before anything I did. It belongs to him — not that he needs me to tell him that,” Gibson said.