Q&A with John Lithgow of ‘Dexter’

As a host of characters varying from villainous columnists and dirty rotten scoundrels to bumbling aliens and protective transvestites, John Lithgow has collected four Emmys, two Tonys, two Golden Globes and two SAG Awards, along with a pair of Oscar nominations. One honor he is not likely to receive as Arthur Mitchell, his character on “Dexter,” is father of the year. The church deacon-abusive parent-serial killer role (for which he has already won a Golden Globe) called for instant transformations and carefully calibrated revelations, each seemingly more shocking than the last. In short, it was an actor’s dream. Taking some time out at the W Hotel in Westwood, Lithgow talks about the series, playing an irredeemable villain and getting naked for the camera.

Considering all the demands and opportunities of Arthur, the “Trinity Killer,” where does the role rank among your favorites?

Oh, it’s way up there. I had a fantastic time. There’s something great about a 12-episode arc of something, especially when you want to withhold secrets and time the revelations. There are, like, four astonishing surprises — it’s all a great credit to the writers and producers, the way they dole out the suspense. And it’s wonderful for an actor; I can remember all the distinct episodes because I’m almost a different character in each episode.

There was a very good review of the series in People magazine that referred to me as a “bland blob of a man” and I thought, “Boy, that’s exactly right.” I wanted him to be so, almost vapid. He presents himself without any edges. This guy is so innocuous — you know people who are too nice to be interesting? Even his good works, the fact that he’s a “good person” — I wanted him to have all the vapidity of goodness and all the banality of evil.

I understand then-showrunner Clyde Phillips gave you a detailed pitch of the entire season, yes?

He told a great, great story. He’s a brilliant raconteur. I don’t think he intended to tell me nearly as much as he told me, but I just couldn’t get enough. I kept saying, “Then what? What about this?” He had left all sorts of little clues in the storytelling just as the series does. So he ended up telling me absolutely everything. And even then, I didn’t take the job! [laughs] I just had too many plans. My wife and I were going to do all these things we’d been wanting to do. I’d been working very, very hard in New York. It was time to take the summer off and stop acting for a while. But my wife said, “No, no, you’ve got to do this.”

Is there anything difficult to watch in it for you?

It’s pretty alarming to see yourself naked. But I knew it was alarming for everybody else too. [laughs] That first scene, I knew it had to have this impact. It had to be grotesque and startling. Nudity is one of the most powerful weapons you have as an actor and it’s very important to use it just right, of course. It’s very disturbing, the scenes where I appear nude. So I just had to throw my vanity out the window. That didn’t make it any easier to watch.

One of my favorite moments is his little dance of joy.

Yes, me too. It’s kind of like atonal music. You get these dissonant notes. We all thought, “How wonderful that he should be so giddy that he can finally unburden himself of his secret.” He’s finally found someone he can tell. The anticipation makes him just a wild man.

What do you remember best about the experience of the season?

I felt like I had the Hope Diamond in my pocket, that I had this secret I was going to spring on everybody — including the cast — because they pitched it to me in such detail, I knew what was going to happen and I was told not to tell anybody. The only person who knew the whole story was [star and executive producer Michael C. Hall]. My favorite time of the week was the 10 minutes after the show I’d spend with my family, and they’d speculate on what was going to happen. It was so great because they were so far off!

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