Jennifer Carpenter stars as Detective Debra Morgan in the hit FX drama Dexter, in which her adopted brother Dexter (Jennifer’s ex-husband Michael C Hall) works alongside her in the Miami Police Department as a murder expert, while moonlighting as a serial killer by night. It’s propelled her to fame as the potty-mouthed ‘tec and Jennifer tells TV Choice she’s loving it…

What’s in store for Dexter in series six?
There’s a real powerhouse of talent coming in. We have Mos Def, Colin Hanks and Edward James Olmos. This year we get more in-depth with the characters – all of the characters and supporting cast – which makes the whole show richer.

Debra has grown in confidence since we first met her when she was working in vice…
I always imagine that she started as the meter maid and worked up from there [laughs]. But she always knew she would be a cop and made that decision at a young age. I actually think she has a lot of confidence. The only family that she’s ever felt loved by has been her colleagues.

I hadn’t thought about it like that…
I think about it all the time [laughs].

There are so many twists and turns in Dexter. How often are you surprised by the storyline when you receive your scripts?
Every single time! And then it becomes about the feel of it. Often it’s like creative maths. So, considering what we’ve told the audience about this world and about Deb at this point, how do I justify this, and what story do I have to write within this story to make it true?

Deb is such a great detective, and is up for promotion in this series. But one thing that has always baffled us is that she hasn’t spotted what’s been going on under her nose with her brother’s unorthodox activities!
I know! That’s another one of the equations that I have to justify. I feel that she does know. I feel that there’s no way she could have had a relationship with Rudy [aka The Ice Truck Killer, who was also Dexter’s birth brother, Brian] in the first series and not feel something familiar about her brother. But she can’t because he is the only part of her past. The only living person who witnessed her life is Dexter. So it can’t be true. If it’s true, Deb loses Dexter and loses herself. So I feel like she has all of the pieces, but she refuses to put the puzzle together. I mean look at his schedule. How can she not know this? He’s never at home!

Dexter does tell his toddler son, Harrison, a lot!
Wait until that baby can talk!

Debra swears a lot. It must be great to let loose when you step into her shoes?
It’s funny, because it actually feels like the opposite. Early on it was fun to realise that I’m cussing on TV. It’s now reached the point where I understand that people can freak about a bit, and I love it and I do have a lot of fun with it. But in my life, I really work hard to find other options. Because I do it so often, it just becomes more and more unattractive. Or maybe I just need a break from Deb.

So how do you get her out of your system when you get home?
I have an incredible network of friends in LA and NY and they’re all very different. Some are actors and some aren’t, so I really enjoy being with them, listening to them. Also, I run, which is really great. I actually run with Jonny Lee Miller, who guest starred in series five and we became very good friends. He’s an avid runner and we both shared our love of the book, Born To Run. He and I ran a marathon and we still run together in LA. It’s great. I’ve also become very good friends with his family.

You’re instantly recognisable from your role in Dexter. Has there ever been an occasion when someone has got reality and fiction confused and mistaken you for a real cop?
No, but I have had to call the cops myself. It was when I was filming the fifth series and I was driving through Hollywood one night going to see a girlfriend to go to dinner. Some crazy guy got out of his car with a knife and came towards the driver’s side of my car. I swerved around him and then he stabbed my car all the way from the passenger side to the boot. When he saw that I’d looked up to check his licence plate, he jumped in his car and started chasing me through the streets of Hollywood. I was running stop sign after stop sign hoping to be pulled over, but I wasn’t. It was insane. So I called the cops and 30 minutes later they showed up. Do you know the first thing they said? It was, ‘Deb, what have you done?’ I was like, ‘This is really inappropriate!’ That’s been the only time I thought it wasn’t right to mention Debra. [Laughs]

Oh my goodness! You must have been terrified!
I know! It’s funny though, I was in New York for almost five years and was never mugged. But it happened in what I thought was in the safety of my own car, driving in traffic.

Did they catch him?
No, they didn’t. It was a stolen plate and it didn’t belong to that car. But I ended up still having a nice dinner that night, so everything looked up afterwards!

I hope you always drive with your car doors locked.
I do now! [Laughs]

Michael C Hall has been quoted as saying that Dexter series eight is going to be the last one. Is that correct?
That’s what I hear. Yes.

Do you know if there’s an end game for how Dexter plays out?
I have a hunch that there is, but I stay out of the politics of it because I think they do such a beautiful job on their own, so there’s no need for me to get involved. I’ll just wait to see what happens like everybody else.

After it ends, would you like to do another gritty drama, or would you like to do something more light-hearted, like a comedy?
I went to The Juilliard School in New York, which focuses on drama, dance and music, and I was always cast as the clown. In my life, I’m the clown. I feel that when you can make people laugh, it’s the greatest expression of love. I absolutely want to do a comedy and I’m doing everything I can to make that happen by writing my own material and developing stuff for other people. I’ve loved working for Showtime, so it would be amazing to try to find a home for something there.

Source: TV Choice

I had missed this but it was a lovely interview!

Amanda Seyfried has “no filter” – but that’s not a criticism, according to her Gone co-star Jennifer Carpenter.

“I keep saying that she has no filter and that’s a good thing because she doesn’t have anything to hide,” Jen explained.

“She makes certain decisions about her character and it all comes together very organically.”

The Dexter star plays Amanda’s best friend in the suspense thriller, which is released in the UK next month.

And she said the pair’s friendship on-screen has been mirrored away from the camera.

She said: “She’s a joy to be around and I think that’s one of the best things I got from this film, is her friendship.”

Source: Google News

A new production still from Gone!