Michael C. Hall

Actor

• Born: February 1, 1971
• Place of Birth: Raleigh, North Carolina

Contribution: Michael C. Hall is an award-winning actor best known for his starring roles in the dramatic television series Six Feet Under and Dexter.

Background

Michael Carlyle Hall was born on February 1, 1971, in Raleigh, North Carolina. As an only child, Hall frequently had to rely on his own imagination for entertainment, and he quickly developed a talent for acting. He appeared in his first play, What Love Is, as a second-grader. Within just a few years, Hall turned to singing, joining a boys’ choir, and he later performed in musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music.

Though Hall’s early life was full of promise, it was also marred by tragedy. When Hall was eleven years old, his father died from prostate cancer. The loss remained with Hall well into his adult life, particularly when he eventually had to deal with his own cancer diagnosis.

After high school, Hall enrolled in Earlham College with plans to study law. When he realized that acting could be a viable career alternative, he enrolled in the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, from which he earned a master of fine arts in 1996.

Career

As many actors do, Hall started out in theater, playing parts in productions such as Henry V, Timon of Athens, and Macbeth. He also demonstrated his versatility in a number of less conventional roles, including a stint as the apostle Peter in playwright Terrence McNally’s gay passion play Corpus Christi (1997). However, it was a role he played in an early version of composer Stephen Sondheim's Bounce that proved to be Hall’s most fortuitous casting.

As it happened, the production of Bounce, then known as Wiseguys, in which Hall appeared was directed by Hollywood film director Sam Mendes. Mendes directed the film American Beauty (1999), which was written by Alan Ball. A short time later, when Ball was developing a series for HBO, Mendes suggested Hall as a potential cast member. The series in question was Six Feet Under, a darkly humored drama about the exploits of a dysfunctional family struggling to operate a private funeral parlor. Hall won a spot on the show, which debuted in 2001.

In Six Feet Under, Hall plays David Fisher, the middle child of the Fisher family, who simultaneously struggles with accepting the reality of his own sexuality and overcoming the challenges of keeping the family business afloat after his father’s untimely death. Hall proved to be one of the strongest anchors of Six Feet Under, helping to make it a critically acclaimed success. He remained on the show for its entire five-season run, earning an Emmy Award nomination in 2002 for his efforts. He was nominated for three Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, and the cast won two SAG Awards in 2003 and 2004. During this time, he appeared in the film Paycheck (2003) and the television movie Bereft (2004).

After completing work on Six Feet Under, Hall spent some time away from Hollywood, doing some stage work and taking voice-over roles. His goal during this period was to find just the right role to carry him through the next phase of his career. In 2006, that role came in the form of a vigilante serial killer, the protagonist of the Showtime series Dexter.

Practically from the moment he was offered the role of Dexter Morgan, Hall was hooked by the character’s macabre appeal. Dexter’s titular character is a crime-scene technician leading a secret double life as a serial killer who hunts down other serial killers who have managed to evade legal justice.

Hall won a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for best actor in 2010 for his role in Dexter and also earned several Emmy nominations. During his time on Dexter, Hall appeared in the films Gamer (2009), Peep World (2010), The Trouble with Bliss (2011), and Kill Your Darlings (2013). In early 2013, Showtime announced that Dexter would conclude after its eighth season, which premiered in June of that year.

After the end of Dexter, Hall returned to theater in 2014, first taking on the role of John in a Broadway production of Will Eno's dramatic-comedy play The Realistic Joneses and then portraying the title role in a Broadway production of the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch into 2015. Following his turn as Thomas Newton in an Off-Broadway production of the musical Lazarus from late 2015 to early 2016, he had parts in the 2016 films Christine and After Adderall, and he played President John F. Kennedy in an episode of the Netflix series The Crown in 2017. In 2018, as well as appearing in the film Game Night and starring in the Netflix miniseries Safe, Hall appeared alone on stage for an Off-Broadway revival of Thom Pain (Based on Nothing). The following year, he joined the star-studded cast of the film The Report.

In addition to various film and television roles in the early 2020s, the actor reprised his character in the miniseries Dexter: New Blood from 2021 to 2022. He was to appear in further additions to the franchise. The prequel Dexter: Original Sin was slated to debut in December 2024 with Hall as narrator. A sequel of New Blood, Dexter: Resurrection, was slated to arrive on television in 2025.

Impact

In January 2010, Hall announced that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, a form of cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and returned to work a few months later, and his cancer went into remission in 2011. Since then, Hall has used his star power to garner support for charities that raise money for cancer research.

Personal Life

Hall was previously married to actor Amy Spanger and Dexter costar Jennifer Carpenter. He was linked to novelist Morgan Macgregor beginning in 2012. The couple married in 2016.

Bibliography

Barry Hill, Rebecca. “Michael C. Hall: A Complex Character with Killer Instincts.” New Zealand Herald. APN Holdings NZ, 21 Dec. 2011. Web. 11 July 2013.

Cordero, Rosy. "Michael C. Hall Returning to 'Dexter' Universe for New Series 'Resurrection' & 'Original Sin'—Comic-Con." Deadline, 26 July 2024, deadline.com/2024/07/michael-c-hall-returning-dexter-resurrection-original-sin-series-1236024240/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

Hall, Michael C. “Michael C. Hall’s Definitive ‘Dexter’ Final Season Interview.” Interview by James Hibberd. Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly, 27 June 2013. Web. 11 July 2013.

"Michael C. Hall (I)." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0355910/?ref‗=nmbio‗ov‗i. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.

“Michael C. Hall Talks ‘Dexter’ Ending; Says He’s Hesitant to Do Another TV Show.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 11 July 2013.

Sayers, Robin. “Q + LA: Michael C. Hall.” Los Angeles Times Magazine. Los Angeles Times Communications, Oct. 2010. Web. 11 July 2013.

Stockwell, Anne. “Hall of Love and Death.” Advocate. Here Media, 25 May 2004. Web. 11 July 2013.