Sarah Michelle Gellar Set to Take on New Role in Dexter Prequel Spinoff Original Sin: 'A Bloody Good Ride'

Sarah Michelle Gellar knows how to have a bloody good time.

Gellar, 47, is joining the cast of the Paramount+ show Dexter: Original Sin, which will follow Dexter (Patrick Gibson) as he evolves into a serial killer. With the guidance of his father, Harry (Christian Slater), Dexter learns a code of behavior to help him “find and kill people who deserve to be eliminated from society without getting on law enforcement’s radar,” according to Paramount+.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum will have a special guest star role as Tanya Martin, the CSI chief at the Miami Metro Police Department and Dexter’s new boss at a forensics internship.

“Sarah Michelle Gellar is a pop culture icon who perfectly rounds out our best-in-class cast featuring Christian Slater and Patrick Dempsey among others,” said Nina L. Diaz, president of content and chief content officer of Showtime, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to have her return to the SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios family and join the origin story of the Dexter franchise.” 

Gellar, for her part, revealed her involvement in the upcoming series in an Instagram post of the announcement with the caption: “It’s going to be a bloody good ride 🩸 🩸 🩸 @sho_dexter”

In addition to Gellar and Slater, the show’s cast also includes Patrick Dempsey, Molly Brown, Debra Morgan, James Martinez, Christina Milian, Alex Shimizu and Reno Wilson. Dexter showrunner Clyde Phillips also returns to helm the prequel series.

The casting of Gellar, Slater and Dempsey, in particular, was a very thoughtful decision by network exes as PEOPLE has learned they wanted to effectively "capture" the 90s period that the show is set in. To do this, they casted actors who appeared in influential 90s projects and continue to be stars today.

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Dexter: Original Sin follows the eight-season run of Dexter, starring Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter, which ran from 2006 to 2013, and spawned the miniseries Dexter: New Blood.

The original series won four Emmy Awards, including outstanding directing for a drama series in 2010 and outstanding guest actor in a drama series in 2010 for John Lithgow’s portrayal as Arthur Mitchell. Hall also received a Golden Globe in 2010 for best performance by an actor in a TV drama.