Michael C. Hall as Dexter

Michael C. Hall, who got noted for his work in the first season of Six Feet Under, has since starred in the titular role of Dexter Morgan, the vigilante serial-killer. Nominated for three Emmy Awards for outstanding lead actor from 2008-2010 as well as the Golden Globe award for best performance in a television drama in 2007 and 2008, Hall finally bagged the award at the Golden Globe in 2010. Last year he also won a Screen Actors Guild award for the role.

A chat with everyone’s favourite serial-killer...

Why did you agree to do Dexter?

I took a couple of weeks to think about it before I agreed to do it. In part because I had just finished a television series that lasted five years and I knew, at least potentially, the kind of commitment I was making is an open-ended commitment. And the character was something that would require a great deal of focus and energy.

When I first saw Dexter on paper, I thought ‘huh, how? How do I approach this?’ So I took some time just to think about those kinds of questions. So yes, I didn’t just jump right on board, I took some time to think about it, but ultimately the challenges of the character and the challenges as an actor and the people I would be working with, some of whom I’d worked with in Six Feet Under. Bob Greenblatt, who’s the head of the original programme, was the producer of Six Feet Under, and Michael Cuesta, who directed many of the episodes over the course of the first season, directed many Six Feet Under episodes. So all those things together allowed me to make the leap of faith.

Did you study anything? Did you read up on serial killers?

Yeah, I read some transcripts of interviews with serial killers and also some books by FBI profilers who dedicated their work to pinpointing what makes a serial killer. I think Dexter himself would have familiarised himself with those things in his attempt to avoid that profile. And I was able to meet with a blood spatter analyst in Miami, when we shot the pilot, and talked to him about the work he does and also the sort of inter-office politics that exist between a civilian working with the police department. But ultimately, the role required an imaginative leap. I didn’t abduct or kill anyone in preparation for the part. (Laughs)

What did you try to do to make Dexter stand out? And why do you think we haven’t seen as many serial killers on TV as in films?

Yeah, well they’ve never really been the protagonist, and I think Dexter stands out. Of course because of his code, and because of the fact that he kills killers, reprehensible people, criminals, but also because I think the voiceover element creates a situation where the audience is complicit or implicated in a way that no one else in Dexter’s world is. They’re really the only ones who are in on what’s actually happening with this guy and that creates an affinity.

And I think we see him, you know, in spite of the fact that he claims that he fakes all the interactions, we’re maybe inclined to suspect otherwise, or whether or not he’s faking them or claims to be faking them, there does seem to be some authenticity in the way that he makes, at least, an honest attempt to deal with his co-workers, or his girlfriend, or be a good brother to his foster sister, or the way he deals with those children.

Do you see a danger in making a sociopath sympathetic?

It’s provocative. I think the show aspires to create a sense in people who watch it, of being simultaneously attracted to and repulsed by this guy. That’s, sort of, the fun of it. There’s a responsibility that goes along with that. I feel, the people who are making decisions about the character in the show are aware of that responsibility.

What do you like about him?

I like the responsibility he’s taken for his darker impulses. I mean, I think we all have a shadow side. Maybe his is formidable in a way that we’re all required to deal with. He has an undeniable compulsion and he is trying to manage it in a way. I mean, he’s still committing sin number one again and again, and again, but I think it’s, yeah, the responsibility he’s taken for his darker impulses that’s admirable. And I also find him interesting because it’s the thing he claims to be — without authentic human characteristics — and yet I find him undeniably human and endearingly human, especially when the sort of structures that he set up for himself start to crumble. That’s when I think his humanity really does emerge.

Can a sociopath be healed or redeemed?

I guess the general consensus is no but Dexter is unique. Not every sociopath or serial killer, no serial killer I know of had a foster parent who recognised their child’s compulsion, and shone a light on it, and told them that they loved them anyway, and that they believed in their goodness, but also sold them on the idea that there was nothing they could do about the compulsion other than to channel it in an arguably productive way.

Isn’t that the most unrealistic thing about the show, in a sense?

Well yeah, I think that’s something that will be explored, in subsequent seasons. The relationship to the father, is sort of presented in a matter-of-fact way. Like, he gave me the tools that allow me to survive in the world, and I’m very thankful to him, and I follow the code. But I mean, Harry himself was a cop who saw a lot of reprehensible people and maybe wasn’t able to do anything about it, and there’s almost a sense that he, through Dexter, is living out his own homicidal sort of fantasies.

From an actor’s point of view, how do you think TV has developed over the last few years?

Well I think, due largely in part to pay cable networks that aren’t beholden to corporate or advertising dollars, and aren’t as censored, I think it’s become a place that’s attracted a lot of good talent, acting wise, writing wise, and sort of revealed itself as a place where you could really take some chances and push boundaries. I mean, I feel like Six Feet Under was something that broke some of that ground and I really feel fortunate to be doing something now that — I wouldn’t have this job were it not for the work I got a chance to do on Six Feet Under. And this show itself probably wouldn’t exist without having had shows like Six Feet Under to precede it.

You must have been offered some interesting movie roles.

Yeah. There were some opportunities in film but no characters that really quite competed with Dexter. I think in the film world and in terms of just the imagination of the powers that be, they recognised that Six Feet Under was a good show and that we all did good work in it. Everything else I’d done was on stage. I had a lot of opportunities to play really uptight, fastidious characters.

Have you got any weird fan mail while playing Dexter?

Not a lot. I mean, I’ve got fan mails but none of it’s been that weird. I mean, yeah, I really dread the day that I get mails like, ‘I really admire Dexter and I look forward to abducting and killing criminals myself. Look for articles about me in your paper.’ (Laughs)

I know it’s all make-believe, but do you have nightmares of all the things that Dexter does? I mean, it must affect you somehow.

I think it does. I mean, it’s an occupational hazard I suppose that I welcome, I mean, it’s a part.... But yeah, I think it’s good to develop, whether it’s a formal ritual or not, ways to kind of slough it off at the end of the day. I mean, some days are rougher than other in terms of what I’m simulating. Some days it just feels like it’s a romantic comedy or something, you know hanging out with (onscreen wife) Rita and the kids one day and on other days I’m actually hacking someone up, so… (laughs).

You mentioned the commitment the TV role requires. How does it affect your personal life?

It’s a consuming job, like many jobs are, and I think actors do struggle when they’re working to maybe hang on to the most vital part of themselves and give that to their work, and maybe withhold it from their life. I mean, I think that’s a struggle that actors have. I guess the awareness of that is maybe some sort of antidote but it is inevitable that you sort of do, from time to time, get consumed with the work you do.

DID YOU KNOW?

Judd Nelson, Ben Stiller, John Cusack, Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Sean Penn, Jake Gyllenhaal, Macaulay Culkin and Matthew Broderick are some of the actors who were considered for the role of Dexter Morgan.

The name Dexter is a Latin word meaning right hand. The implied complement is the Latin for left hand, sinister and reflecting his hidden dark side.

Michael Hall and Jennifer Carpenter play brother and sister in the series. Having met on the show, they married on December 31, 2008.

Sylvester Stallone is a big fan of the show. The action star used two actors from the Dexter principal cast in his films: Julie Benz (Rambo) and David Zayas (The Expendables).