’I didn’t kill anyone in preparation for the part’

Miami police department's blood spatter expert Dexter Morgan does a night shift killing murderers and rapists to satisfy his sociopath tendencies. Sunday MidDay chats with actor Michael C Hall alias Dexter about how easy it is to get into the mind of a serial killer

What was your reaction when you first read the script?
When I first saw Dexter on paper, I thoughtu00a0-- huh, how? How do I approach this? So I took some time just to think about those kinds of questions. I didn't just jump right on board. But the people I would be working with, some of whom I'd worked with on Six Feet Under, allowed me to make the leap of faith.

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How did you research the character, prepare for the role?
I read some transcripts of interviews with serial killers, and books by FBI profilers who dedicated their work to pinpointing what makes up a serial killer.

I think Dexter himself would have familiarised himself with such things in his attempt to avoid that profile. And I was able to meet with the blood spatter analyst in Miami, when we shot the pilot, and talked to him about the work he does and the sort of inter-office politics that exist when a civilian works with the police department.
But ultimately, the role required an imaginative leap. I didn't abduct or kill anyone in preparation for the part.

Serial killers have been the subject of films but television hasn't explored the area much. What makes Dexter different from the others?
Yeah, well they've never really been protagonists, and I think Dexter stands out, of course, because of his code, and 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 are 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. There does seem to be some authenticity in the way that he deals with people.
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Why do you think the show works?
It's provocative. I mean, 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.
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Is it a challenge to play a dark character?
I like the responsibility he's taken for his darker impulses; 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 but he is at least trying to manage it in a way. I mean he's still committing sin number one, I won't deny that.
But I find him interesting because he claims to be without authentic human characteristics and yet I find him undeniably human and endearingly so, especially when the sort of structures that he set up for himself start to crumble.u00a0
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Do you see a danger in making the audience sympathise with a sociopath?
I guess the general consensus would be 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.
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Do you get weird fan mails?
Not a lot. I mean, I've got fan mails but none of it's been weird. I dread the day that I get something like ufffd I really admire Dexter and I look forward to abducting and killing criminals myself.u00a0
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Does your character give you nightmares?
I think it does. I mean, it's an occupational hazard that I welcome. 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 others in terms of what I'm simulating.

Some days it just feels like it's a romantic comedy or something, hanging out with Rita and the kids, and other days I'm actually hacking someone up. It's a consuming job, like many jobs are, and I think actors do struggle when they are working to maybe hang on to the most vital part of themselves and give that to their work.

Dexter airs on Star World, Monday to Friday at 10 pm