Eric Stonestreet went from potential victim to prolific serial killer on Dexter — talk about an upgrade.
During the Dexter: Resurrection panel at Comic-Con on Friday, Dexter creator Clyde Phillips revealed to Comic-Con attendees that the Modern Family alum auditioned to be an Ice Truck Killer victim on the first season of the original show in 2006. And now, 19 years later, he’s playing serial killer Al Jolly on the revival series.
“A thousand years ago when we first started this show, Eric Stonestreet came in, and he was a working day-player actor,” Phillips told the Ballroom 20 audience. “He came in to audition to be one of the victims of Brian Moser [Christian Camargo]. And he didn’t get the job. The next week, the week he would have been working for us as a victim of Brian Moser, he went and auditioned for Modern Family.”
As the audience cheered, the showrunner added, “So our saying ‘no’ created his good fortune.”
And then executive producer Scott Reynolds cheered, “And then we got him back!”
Mitch Haaseth via Getty
Eric Stonestreet on ‘Modern Family’
Dexter: Resurrection stars Michael C. Hall, James Remar, David Zayas, David Dastmalchian, Krysten Ritter, and Jack Alcott, along with showrunner Phillips and executive producer Reynolds, gathered for the show’s Ballroom 20 panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, moderated by Dexter: New Blood star Jamie Chung.
Zach Dilgard/Paramount+
Michael C. Hall and Krysten Ritter on ‘Dexter: Resurrection’
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The panelists discussed episode 4’s introduction of a slew of new killers played by Stonestreet, Dastmalchian, Ritter, Neil Patrick Harris, and Uma Thurman, all employed in a secret society by an eccentric billionaire obsessed with serial killers (Peter Dinklage).
“Does this crowd think they can keep a secret? No way in hell,” Dastmalchian said with a smile. “I’d have to kill all of you and it would be fun… I can’t wait for you to see the twists.”
Dexter: Resurrection releases new episodes Fridays on Paramount+.
Check out more of EW’s coverage from San Diego Comic-Con 2025.
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