Both actors appear in the Dexter prequel series, Dexter: Original Sin -- but the last time they shared the screen was in 1991, as young mobsters taking over New York City in the 1920s.

"I had worked with Dempsey 30 years ago on Mobsters and it was a funny gangster movie," recounts Slater during a recent interview with PEOPLE.

In the film, Slater, now 55, played Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, a real-life gangster that was part of the creation of the National Crime Syndicate. Dempsey, now 58, was Meyer Lansky, another organized crime figurehead.

Mobsters loosely followed the creation of what's known as "the Commission," the American Mafia's governing body. The film was largely panned at its release.

"It is a zinger," Slater says of the film. "It's really something. We got our Tommy guns and it's a pretty funny movie."

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Regardless of his feelings about Mobsters, Slater tells PEOPLE, "It was wonderful to reconnect with [Dempsey]. It was really, really great. Really great."

Dexter: Original Sin explores how the infamous serial killer originated by Michael C. Hall came to be the man viewers met in the 2006 series. In the new show, Dempsey plays Miami Metro Homicide Captain Aaron Spencer and Slater is Dexter's father, Harry.

During an October interview with PEOPLE, Dempsey told PEOPLE of the series: "I've had a great time working on it."

"The culture within the filming itself has been one of great celebration, joy and fun," he praised, specifically, noting that because it's an "ensemble" cast, "we all have our days where we're carrying the workload, and then we have some time off to balance our life."

Added Dempsey: "It's a wonderful, really safe, creative environment, and Clyde Phillips, our creator, has created a beautiful culture for us to work in that's really collaborative."