David Magidoff is a busy guy! From roles on The Morning Show, American Crime Story: Impeachment, to crafting original comedy — he’s got a lot on his plate.
We talked with him about his role as rookie police officer Teddy Reed on the highly-anticipated Showtime reboot Dexter: New Blood, other upcoming projects, and how he lives for the funny moments in dark situations.
Check out portions of our discussion below!
Mary Littlejohn: Were you familiar with the first series of Dexter? Had you watched it prior to being cast?
David Magidoff: I knew that people loved it. It’s amazing to see, in a beautiful way, how many people absolutely loved, missed, obsessed, were passionate about the show.
I loved doing The Morning Show, but that was a brand new thing — we were all learning about something new together. Jumping into something that’s both new and also this wonderful thing that holds a place in so many peoples’ hearts– it’s a fun place to be.
From the first episode, it feels very much like the original series, despite being in a totally different climate. It’s exciting to come back to. Tell me about your character Teddy.
He’s a fish out of water. He’s only been doing this for about three weeks. I remember during casting, they were giving a note — Teddy was in Afghanistan, in the army — and then doing the show, I asked, “Where is any of that?” and [they said] “We just wanted to make sure that he had some background.”
If he was serving in the military abroad, it was behind a desk, and he never saw any action. So, he grows up as a police officer before everyone’s eyes in this. Everything you see Teddy do is the first time Teddy’s doing anything.
It’s fun to be that guy on the show. You have someone like Julia Jones [who plays police chief Angela Bishop] who’s so great — her character has a lot of backstory. There’s Alano [Miller], who plays [Officer] Logan. He’s also been around, and he’s good at what he does… and then there’s poor Teddy.
You’re a comedian. Dexter isn’t exactly a funny show, though; the original always did have that really dark humor. What drew you to Dexter? What made you want to be a part of it?
I think it’s a very funny show! It uses humor constantly. That’s what I got from watching older episodes — because obviously when I got the gig, I wanted to see what everyone was so excited about.
Michael [C. Hall] is a really funny person. He’s kind and cool, all the best things. I’d heard he was just kind of quiet. Then I met him, day one, and he was chatty, fun, and charming as heck. He’s the real deal. A show doesn’t last for eight seasons and come back like this if the guy’s a jerk.
Everyone is kind of funny on this show. Chief Bishop is really the only one who doesn’t [have funny moments]. Michael Cyril Creighton, who plays Fred Jr., is so funny. He and I became fast friends.
There’s a lot of good humor on the show, which makes the darkness so extra rich. If it’s all dark and sad, or it’s super silly with Teddy moments everywhere, it would be a ridiculous show, one way or the other. They do such a nice job blending that.
I like having comedic moments in hour-longs. It’s a nice space to be in. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? What comedian wouldn’t want to be part of a Dexter?
Do you have any favorite moments from filming? No spoilers!
So much of it was filmed in Massachusetts from February to August. We saw five seasons go by before our eyes.
In Massachusetts, it was freezing cold. It was a nine-degree day, and I thought, “They did not teach me this in acting school! I am doing something that is brand new, and I am doing everything I can not to look like I am frozen while the camera is on me!”
I remember day one. It was a big shoot, with 150-160 crew members. It’s a 10-hour movie. That’s what most TV is these days. It was shot like a movie, too. I remember getting there, driving, being in my trailer, going in the van; the van takes me up to base camp, in which I got into a Gator — the ground was rocky and snowy and awful.
I’m wearing a giant coat. It’s this one scene where I’m in the snow. I hadn’t met anybody yet. I got driven up in the Gator, up what felt like a mountain.
I get in this tent, I’m sloshing in the snow, 15 inches deep, wearing all this gear, hat, and everything — and I meet the director, behind his goggles, COVID mask, hat, and hood over his hat. I never knew what his face looked like until days later!
And then, cut to the days later, where we’re inside of a high school. We’re in an auditorium, and we all came alive as actors — indoors, comfortable. It was one of the first days I saw everyone not fighting elements, being silly, fun actors. Every day you’re fighting something — how cold it is, the rain, the wind picking up on the frozen lake. It’s something!
I never thought about acting against the weather. At least we had breaks throughout the day. Being a character in this world was a fun new adventure for me. I look back on it fondly.
I heard you’re working on a semi-autobiographical comedy pilot — King David. Can you tell us about that?
So, I am that rare gem of a Jew who follows Jesus Christ. [laughs] We’re called Messianic Jews. Basically, I say we’re the Jews who turned the page. After Malachi is done, you ask — how do you get from that jump to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Well, it’s the next page over!
It was my own personal journey. It was a real shock for my family! Saying you’re a Christian in a Jewish family almost has connotations of the Third Reich. As a Jewish culture, we’re a survivor culture and have been for eons. Christians have historically not been necessarily terribly kind to us.
So when a Jew decides to become a Christian, what does that look like? What does that look like for any of us who make big adult life decisions?
I love [television series] Ramy, which explores how a young Muslim man wrestles with being a young millennial dude in a secular world, trying to connect to his Muslim roots.
I thought, “Have we ever heard a story of someone who is part of a faith who actually wants to go to another faith?” And I have that story. So I feel closer to Judaism than I ever have, calling myself a “Christian” who thinks Jesus is, at least, real and is the Son of God, all the things that come with it.
But then, it’s not an easy process, showing the funny side of what that looks like and the real-life effects on people in my life and how that changed. When I told my family, they said: “Well, we know what we believe. This is weird. You’re being weird, and this is wrong.”
When you make a big decision in your life, with your family and friends and tribe around you, they start to ask themselves, “What is it that I believe?” A lot of the time, we don’t know what we believe until someone else says, “I believe something else.”
It feels like someone’s leaving the community. What I kept trying to say and what I think they eventually came to realize, on loving terms, was “I’m just saying yes to who were are, and I’m saying yes to something else, too.”
They’ve all come to church now. I have a very gracious family. The plotline is simply “Can we be in one tribe and then choose another tribe as adults, and how does that affect everybody else?”
My family did ask me to see an emergency rabbi. And I went! It was a fascinating experience, and I thought, “I gotta write this down!” This is a real thing! It sounds like a made-up thing, an SNL character, but no, this is a thing. There are emergency rabbis out there. If you’re reading this and you need a rabbi, they’re out there!
What else are you working on? Are there any other projects that you’d like to do in the future?
A fun thing I’m doing now is the FanAddicts podcast — spelled differently but sounds the same [as “fanatics”], that’s what we tell people!
That’s really fun. We’re actually going to have everybody on from Dexter. Michael [C. Hall]’s going to do the first episode the day after the premiere [November 8]. It’s a ten-week series. We’re calling it Dexter Addicts.
As far as other projects, I’m developing something with the people over at Queer Eye — an interior design show for comedians.
I have an Airbnb in Palm Springs that I did up real nice, and I thought, “You know who doesn’t do good jobs keeping their homes clean and tidy and fashionable and presentable and stylish? It’s comedians.” They’re the new rock stars for treating their homes like shit. So that was fun, too!
How did you get started? Did you always know that you were going to be an entertainer? Do you remember what sparked it for you?
I would say improv has always been my throughline. I live and die on it. For some people, it’s stand-up. Some people are storytellers. Some people are writers. I just started it in high school. I would watch Whose Line Is It Anyway? on TV. My friends and I watched that and taught ourselves improv games. Drew Carey and Ryan Stiles were our “teachers,” and we started there.
I remember when I was a teenager, my dad took me to one of the first professional improv shows I ever saw — the Groundlings. The Wednesday Night Groundlings show. It was a great show, and as the years have gone by and I’ve gotten older, it’s still one of my favorite shows.
Last year was the first year I was invited to play it, and I thought, “Oh my gosh!” [laughs] “How does that happen?” The little kid inside of me was just so excited and still is. I have the oddest little career.
You do a lot, and you do so many different things!
Thank you for noticing. I love improv. I can use that skill set in so many different things. I love when things go wrong and when things aren’t the way they should be.
I remember the first time I ever hosted HQ Trivia, and all of a sudden, the person behind the camera just stopped and walked out of the room. We found out that there was this tiny tornado in Brooklyn — I know that sounds crazy, but this is what happened! She’s giving me the finger sign of rolling to keep going, and I’m just talking.
I think the question was “What does Amazon show when a page doesn’t load?” and the answer is puppies or dogs, and I remember saying, “So, what kind of pets do you have at home?” and I was talking about my cat, how cute she is, the things she does.
There’s nothing like vamping to a blank screen, and you know half a million people are watching you, but you don’t get one reaction.
I hope I’m being funny and silly. But to me, that is my favorite moment of doing that because any reasonable person could read off a teleprompter — but I got to talk when things were just broken.
That gets me going, because then all of a sudden, things are special. That’s what I live for, those moments.
Thank you so much. It was great to chat. We’re really excited for the new season of Dexter and everything else that you’re doing.
Thanks so much. I think you’ll enjoy the new season, for sure.
I think so, too!
People die, I’ll just say that.
Yeah, I had a feeling.
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Dexter: New Blood premieres on Showtime on November 7 at 9/8c and airs weekly.
Check out the FanAddicts podcast here. You can keep up with David Magidoff and his many projects on Twitter.
Some portions of this interview have been edited for length/clarity.
Mary Littlejohn is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.