‘Dexter’ Season 8 Recast This Character, and No One Noticed

The Big Picture

• Detective Angel Batista, a key character in
  Dexter
  , is portrayed by David Zayas, a former NYPD cop.
• In Season 8, Zayas’ son, David Zayas Jr., served as a stand-in for his father, appearing in background shots without close-ups.
• The new prequel series,
  Dexter: Original Sin
  , has cast a young Batista, making it unlikely for Zayas Jr. to be hired as a stand-in.

The world of Dexter is filled with interesting characters, but none are quite as charismatic as Detective Angel Batista. As a dedicated member of law enforcement, Batista appears at nearly every crime scene in the series and has his hand in solving many cases (from the Ice Truck Killer to the Trinity case). He becomes a friend to Dexter over the years. While several people attempt to kill him in various episodes, Batista is one of the few characters to survive the entire 8-season run of the original show. Batista even appears in the sequel series, Dexter: New Blood, where he’s been promoted to police captain. The unique character of Batista was brought to life by David Zayas, who was an NYPD cop in real life before he switched to acting. Zayas portrayed Batista with confidence and a good-natured vibe that made many intense (and gruesome) scenes much more fun. But is it possible that Dexter replaced fan-favorite Zayas in Season 8 without anyone noticing?

David Zayas Didn’t Appear in Every Scene in Season 8 of ‘Dexter’

In a behind-the-scenes video, Showtime followed the Dexter production as they filmed the final season of the series (which aired in 2013). In the video, Zayas reveals that his son, David Zayas Jr., actually served as a stand-in for him in many scenes. Stand-ins are an important part of any Hollywood production; on long shoots, when it’s not necessary for the lead actors to be on camera, stand-ins take their place for technical purposes (such as testing for lighting, camera angles, and wardrobe). The role can be pretty demanding because it requires a lot of standing under hot lights or being outdoors in the elements and can consist of long days for these crew members. Typically, stand-ins don’t appear on camera at all; they’re used for rehearsals, blocking, or set-ups. Stand-ins are often actors who take on the jobs while they are waiting for their own big break, and they’re usually dead ringers for their counterparts (same body type, hair color, etc.). But, it’s pretty rare for the stand-in to be related to the person they’re filling in for.

In the case of this Dexter shoot, Zayas Jr. was tapped to be a stand-in for his father because he is the spitting image of him, especially as soon as he dons Batista’s signature fedora and Hawaiian shirts. This made him a natural choice to help out. But Zayas Jr. didn’t just fulfill the role of a typical stand-in; he also ended up appearing on-screen as Batista. Zayas Jr. first pops up in Episode 10 of Season 7 (‘The Dark…Whatever’), where he serves as his father’s stunt double. When it came time to find a stand-in for Zayas in Season 8, his son was a natural choice. Batista didn’t appear in close-ups for many scenes that season, so the production team decided that Zayas Jr. could be used (especially in background shots), and the audience would be none the wiser. Only truly eagle-eyed fans would ever be able to spot the difference in these scenes. Of course, Zayas filmed all of the important scenes with dialogue or close-up shots, but allowing his son to act as a stand-in for him occasionally permitted him to take time off on set (especially after he would film more intense or graphic scenes).

Will Batista Appear in the New ‘Dexter’ Series?

The original Dexter series certainly should have capitalized on the younger Zayas’ look and cast him in some flashback scenes of Batista’s youth. And Zayas Jr. would have been an easy choice to portray Batista in the recently announced prequel series, Dexter: Original Sin, However, the show has already cast a young Batista. An actor named James Martinez (Love, Victor) will be stepping in to portray Batista as the eager new police officer who’s just starting out in Miami. Martinez doesn’t have quite the same build that Zayas and his son have, so it’s not likely that Zayas Jr. will be hired as another stand-in for the series. But now that the production team realizes that most viewers didn’t notice the usage of Zayas Jr. as a stand-in until that video clip began making the rounds, it’s possible that they’ll utilize stand-ins more regularly in the new production as well. The series is likely to match the original Dexter in terms of graphic violence and crime scenes, so hopefully, the actors will get as much time off between takes as they need.

The best part of Zayas Jr. serving as a stand-in is that the show (as dark as it was) became more of a family affair. Zayas’ wife (and mother to Zayas Jr.), Liza Colon-Zayas, also appeared in Season 5 as the mother of a murder victim. These days, Colon-Zayas is earning rave reviews in The Bear, but she helped insert even more Zayas magic into the series back then, just like her husband and son did. Since starring in Dexter, the elder Zayas has worked on many other productions, including 11 episodes of Gotham as Sal Maroni, Bloodline, and several episodes of Blue Bloods. He also has several new projects in the pipeline, but it’s hard to think that he’ll ever have a role as perfect as the flirtatious yet tough Batista. But it’s not just Zayas whose career has been made better by being associated with Dexter. Zayas Jr. recently made his off-Broadway directorial debut this month with a Sam Shepard play called Simpatico.

Even though Dexter often focused on some pretty grim storylines, Zayas depicted Batista with heart as well as grit. Although it’s not clear whether his son will join him on any sets in the future (since he’s too busy being a successful director), it is a nice piece of Dexter history to know that the father and son shared the role for a bit. At the end of the day, no matter who was depicting Batista on-screen, the character will always be one of the best parts of Dexter.

Seasons 1-8 of Dexter are now streaming on Netflix in the US.