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Casting Uma Thurman on 'Dexter' Follows a Familiar Pattern for the Series

By Dustin Rowles | News | January 22, 2025 |

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Header Image Source: Showtime

Both Dexter and The Walking Dead, long past their prime, have built a reputation for bringing in familiar faces who haven’t been in the spotlight recently to inject new energy into the series. These guest stars are sometimes men — Patrick Dempsey, Ryan Hurst, Jimmy Smits, Colin Hanks, even John Lithgow — but the more memorable special guest stars have been actresses. There’s a symbiotic relationship at play in these casting choices that I truly appreciate.

The deal goes like this: “I’ll give your struggling series some energy and legitimacy, and you’ll remind a large audience that my career still has plenty of life.” For instance, Samantha Morton’s turn as a villain on The Walking Dead delivered just that. The show gained an Oscar-nominated talent, and Morton saw her career heat up again (The Serpent Queen, The Burning Girls). On the flip side, Julia Ormond’s attempt to revive her career via The Walking Dead: World Beyond fell woefully flat, as the spin-off was so poorly received it’s essentially been erased from the franchise. Meanwhile, Jenna Elfman’s arc in the TWD universe led to 75 episodes but didn’t elevate her stature much, though it may have paved the way for her role in AMC’s Dark Winds.

This casting tactic is nothing new for Dexter. Julia Stiles joined the fifth season, bringing a fresh face to the show after the departure of Julie Benz (Dexter has a type). Her role as Dexter’s love interest was engaging but didn’t seem to do much for her career overall. Yvonne Strahovski, however, was one of the few bright spots in the original series’ declining final seasons. Even so, her standout work in The Handmaid’s Tale makes it clear she was slumming a bit on Showtime’s fading hit.

Dexter: New Blood took a different approach with Julia Jones, who broke the blonde love-interest mold and wasn’t the typical B-list star. However, Dexter: Original Sin seems to be returning to form with Sarah Michelle Gellar, though her role has been surprisingly subdued so far. My guess? She’ll follow in the footsteps of Lumen and Hannah McKay as another love interest-slash-serial killer.

Now, Dexter: Resurrection is in production, aiming for a summer release, and they’ve just cast Uma Thurman. She’ll play Charley, the meticulous Head of Security for billionaire Leon Prater, with a background in Special Ops and high-level private security. Sounds like a potential serial killer and love interest for Dexter, right? Let’s hope Thurman’s role is more Samantha Morton than Julia Stiles—revitalizing for both the series and her career.

Because if nothing else, Dexter thrives on predictability.