Patrick Dempsey Says He's 'Truly Grateful' to Work on “Dexter” Prequel Series with His Famous Costars (Exclusive)

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christian Slater join the 'Grey's Anatomy' alum on 'Dexter: Original Sin'

Patrick Dempsey is loving working on his latest television project.

While chatting exclusively with PEOPLE about his partnership with Pfizer and the American Cancer Society for their Change the Odds initiative, the actor opened up about his forthcoming project, Dexter: Original Sin, and working with costars, including Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christian Slater.

"It's going great. ... I've had a great time working on it," Dempsey, 58, says of the Dexter prequel series set to premiere on Paramount+ and Showtime in December. "The culture within the filming itself has been one of great celebration, joy and fun."

"I think coming out of the [2023 actors and writers] strike, we're all truly grateful that we have employment, because the business hasn't really come back to where it was before," he continues. "I'm just really grateful to have a job, and I'm really enjoying it. We've been in the business long enough now, over 30 years, where we really appreciate it and look at it differently."

"It is an ensemble, so we all have our days where we're carrying the workload, and then we have some time off to balance our life," adds the Grey's Anatomy alum. "It's a wonderful, really safe, creative environment, and Clyde Phillips, our creator, has created a beautiful culture for us to work in that's really collaborative."

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Related: Sarah Michelle Gellar Teases Unexpected ‘McBuff’ Crossover with Patrick Dempsey for Dexter Prequel

Dexter: Original Sin comes after the eight-season run of Dexter, originally starring Michael C. Hall as the titular serial killer and Jennifer Carpenter, ran from 2006 to 2013 and its 2021 follow-up miniseries, Dexter: New Blood.

According to Paramount+ with Showtime, the forthcoming prequel, which stars Patrick Gibson as a younger Dexter Morgan and is set in 1991, will follow the iconic character as he “transitions from student to avenging serial killer.”

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Dempsey plays Miami Metro Homicide Captain Aaron Spencer and Gellar, 47, portrays Tanya Martin, the CSI chief at the Miami Metro Police Department and Dexter’s new boss at a forensics internship. Slater, 55, meanwhile, stars as Dexter's father, Harry.

Alongside Dempsey, Slater and Gellar, the series also stars Molly Brown as Debra Morgan, James Martinez as Angel Batista, Christina Milian as Maria LaGuerta, Alex Shimizu as Vince Masuka and Reno Wilson as Bobby Watt.

Related: Dexter: Original Sin's Dark Teaser Promises a Look at the Makings of an Iconic Killer

PEOPLE previously learned that the casting of Dempsey, Slater and Gellar, in particular, was a very thoughtful decision by network exes, as they wanted to effectively "capture" the '90s period that the show is set in.

Last month, Gellar shared a behind-the-scenes image from the set of Dexter: Original Sin, in which she and Dempsey could be seen on set in their costumes.

“The crossover you didn’t know you needed (#McBuff?!?),” Gellar captioned the post, referencing their past hit shows. (Gellar played Buffy Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003, while Dempsey starred as Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in the first 11 seasons of Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2015.)

Several fans also called out the duo’s appearances in the Scream franchise. “I would say Scream 2 meets Scream 3 ♥︎,” commented one user, referring to how Gellar appeared as Cici Cooper in Scream 2 (1997), while Dempsey played Detective Mark Kincaid in Scream 3 (2000).

Dexter: Original Sin premieres on Paramount+ with Showtime on Friday, Dec. 13, and then makes its on-air premiere on Showtime in the U.S. on Sunday, Dec. 15.

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