Michael C. Hall: ‘Twenty years have passed for Dexter and for me, and with age come struggles, wisdom, battle scars...’
The actor reflects on the serial killer’s two decades on television and what the role has meant for his career. ‘He’s the character with whom I’ll always be associated,’ he says
In October 2006, viewers were introduced to Dexter Morgan, a Miami police forensic analyst specializing in blood-spatter analysis who, in his spare time, liked to hunt down serial killers who had escaped justice to appease “the dark passenger” within him. He was a likable guy with an unshakeable, if questionable, moral code, and audiences fell in love with him.
Twenty years later, after a controversial ending to the original series (2006-2013) and a death that turned out not to be one in Dexter: New Blood (2021-2022), he is still killing and dispensing justice, now in New York.
Michael C. Hall, 55, knows that his name will always be linked to the character, who in the second season of Dexter: Resurrection is going through his own version of a midlife crisis. “He has an appetite for recognition, and for someone like him that could get him in a lot of trouble,” the actor says in a video-call interview.
As a nod to longtime fans and to mark the show’s 20th anniversary, the series has recreated its iconic opening credits sequence.
“It was like walking into the ghost of my former self and trying to move with it,” says Michael C. Hall, noticeably more relaxed and smiley than his character usually is.
Question. Dexter has grown with you as an actor and with us as viewers. How has he changed over these years?
Answer. He used to compartmentalize the regular person he pretended to be from the killer he really was. The line separating them has blurred, and now he has integrated both sides. That muddies the waters. It‘s not so neat and tidy in terms of what he’s doing. When Dexter interacts with his son, for example, he’s not pretending to be a father; he actually experiences what it is to be a father and to have a real relationship. Twenty years have passed for the character and for all of us, myself included. I don’t have to act like I’m 20 years older — I just am, and so is he, and with age come struggle, wisdom, battle scars…
Q. Do you think the character has changed with you, that your changes as an actor have made the character evolve?
A. Sure, although I can’t say which influences which. Dexter is, ultimately, words on a page, and I, as an actor, am the guardian of my sense of that character’s truth. He comes to life through me, so Dexter’s inner life is mine; what happens to me on a given day or across a decade affects the character. The truth is I don’t spend much time thinking about how he has changed me or how I have changed him. At this point I just try to let it happen.
Q. Do you remember how the role of Dexter first came to you? You had just finished Six Feet Under (2001-2006), with one of the most groundbreaking characters on television at the time, David Fisher, the gay son in the central family, and I wonder whether you had any doubts about signing on to a project like this...
A. I did, yes. After Six Feet Under ended, I moved to New York intending to return to the theater, and the last thing I thought I’d do was another television show. But the Dexter script came, and there was something too compelling about the character. The audacity of making a show that invited people to go on a journey with someone like Dexter was a compelling invitation. But I didn’t know if it would work — honestly, I didn’t know if we would be able to pull it off. I never imagined I’d be talking to you about the character 20 years later and that he would still have a life and continue evolving. It’s wild. But yes, I had some misgivings. But anything worth doing is probably accompanied by a good dose of fear, and I think Dexter was worth doing
Q. What would be your top three favorite Dexter villains?
A. Ummm. I’d say Arthur Mitchell, the Trinity Killer [played by John Lithgow]; Brian Moser, the Ice Truck Killer, Dexter’s brother [played by Christian Camargo]; and Miguel Prado [Jimmy Smits]. It’s hard to choose, but I’d say that’s Dexter’s Mount Rushmore of villains.
Q. How has playing such a charismatic character affected your career? Has it influenced, for example, the types of roles you’ve been offered or the projects you’ve been approached with?
A. Yes, of course, but that’s a done deal. Dexter is the character with whom I think I’ll always be associated. I’ve done a lot of other things on stage and screen. I never imagined when I started as an actor that I would do a series for five seasons like Six Feet Under, let alone that I would intermittently play a character for another 20 years. Of course it affects things, though it’s hard to say how because there’s no parallel universe to compare to where it didn’t happen. It affects how people see me, what I’m offered and what I’m not… But I’m cool with it. Obviously I haven’t run away from Dexter; it’s a fascinating world, and I’ve returned because I think there’s still more to explore.
Q. Why do you think Dexter is still so popular two decades later?
A. I’m probably in a uniquely bad position to assess that because I’m so close to it, but we live in a world where we increasingly sense that we’re not in control. We feel controlled, manipulated, lied to. Dexter is a character who, in his little corner of the world, has taken control. He loses it from time to time and then regains it. People like to watch him get into trouble and get out of it. And we all have, in some way, a shadow, a darkness we manage — maybe not as formidable as his, but enough that we can relate. And the fact that we hear his inner thoughts gives us the sense that we’re along for the ride with him rather than watching it from the outside.
Q. We already know it’s hard to kill Dexter Morgan, but then, what would be the perfect ending for the character in your opinion?
A. I don’t know, I don’t know… The perfect ending… To be shot into space? To dematerialize and turn into mist? I don’t know [laughs].
Q. Have you thought about how long you’ll be able to keep playing Dexter?
A. Yes, I have thought about it, but I don’t know… At this point, I’ve learned never to say never, you know…
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