Dexter: Original Sin's Young Debra Actress Learned She Got The Role At Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, And Then Celebrated In The Most Fitting Way
Karma is this girl on the screen.
![Molly Brown in Senior Year and Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour movie.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/r7eZuM6FzVUyHxQtfgsQu5-320-80.jpg)
The original Dexter series may be infamous for how badly it lost its way by the end, but to ignore the other aspects and earlier seasons of the Showtime drama would do a great disservice to some great TV characters. We’ll get to see a lot of those characters return — with different actors playing younger versions — in the prequel series Dexter: Original Sin. Molly Brown, who was cast as the titular character’s sister Debra, recently talked about learning she’d gotten the gig while at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and I absolutely love how she celebrated the big news.
One of the best characters on Dexter was undoubtedly his foul-mouthed sister Deb, played by Jennifer Carpenter in one of her best roles. Now Molly Brown will take up the mantle, portraying a teenage version of the future detective. It’s a pretty big opportunity for the young actress, and she spoke during a Comic-Con panel about the unforgettable moment she found out she’d been hired. Brown said:
I found out that I was one of the finalists for getting this role, and I told my manager, I said, ‘You know what? If I don’t get it, just text me, because if you call me, I’m gonna think that I got it.’ And so we decided to go to the Eras Tour, and it was during the last 30 seconds of ‘Karma,’ I saw my manager’s phone number pop up on my screen, and I started screaming and I left.
There’s no way her manager could have known just how perfect his timing was in making that phone call to Molly Brown. She went through that entire show, and in the last 30 seconds of — of all songs — “Karma,” she finally got word. What a thrill!
The moderator was surprised to hear that Molly Brown left the show, even though every Swiftie who’s any Swiftie knows that “Karma” is the final song on the three-plus-hour setlist. Seeing that confetti fall could have been the perfect way to celebrate her new job, the moderator suggested. But the actress one-upped that idea, saying:
I went back the next night to celebrate.
I love this so much. While I’m sure Molly Brown enjoyed her first Eras Tour experience, knowing that she should be getting news about the role one way or the other had to have been in the back of her mind as Taylor Swift’s surprise songs played and the “22” hat recipient was chosen. That second night, though, she could completely let loose and enjoy the show, right down to “Karma” and the confetti.
When Dexter: Original Sin premieres (you’ll need a Paramount+ subscription with Showtime add-on to stream), we’ll see Patrick Gibson portraying the title character with the dark passenger, with Christian Slater, Christina Milian and James Martinez among the actors who will take on some of the familiar characters from Dexter.
The series is set in 1991, and the 10-episode order will follow Dexter on his internship at the Miami Metro Police Department as he and his adoptive father develop the moral code that we know him to follow as an adult. We’ve got a while to wait on that one, though, so in the meantime, check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what’s coming up soon.
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Heidi Venable is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend, a mom of two and a hard-core '90s kid. She started freelancing for CinemaBlend in 2020 and officially came on board in 2021. Her job entails writing news stories and TV reactions from some of her favorite prime-time shows like Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelor. She graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in Journalism and worked in the newspaper industry for almost two decades in multiple roles including Sports Editor, Page Designer and Online Editor. Unprovoked, will quote Friends in any situation. Thrives on New Orleans Saints football, The West Wing and taco trucks.