Michael C. Hall was a sexually ambiguous master of ceremonies and Jennifer Carpenter took part in the Salem witch trials. Not in reality, of course, but on Broadway. In fact, almost all of the major cast members on the hit Showtime series Dexter, past and present, have stage roots. So in honor of this Sunday’s season premiere, take a look at your favorite stars doing live theater. They’re more than just cops and mass murderers! (And if you haven’t seen the past seven seasons, you may come across some spoilers.)
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Michael C. Hall, who plays the serial-killing title character, has appeared in many productions on and off Broadway, from Shakespeare’s
Macbeth and
Cymbeline to Sam Mendes’ acclaimed revival of
Cabaret. Here he is as
Cabaret’s Emcee, the production’s first replacement.
(© Joan Marcus)

Jennifer Carpenter, best known as Dexter Morgan’s foul-mouthed and emotionally fragile sister Debra, made her Broadway debut in the 2002 revival of
The Crucible, and returned to the stage in Second Stage’s 2011 Off-Broadway production of
Gruesome Playground Injuries, opposite Pablo Schreiber.
(© Joan Marcus)

For seven seasons, Lauren Vélez played Dexter Morgan’s on-again/off-again adversary, Lieutenant (and later Captain) María LaGuerta. On stage, she has appeared in the original Broadway production of
Into the Woods and Lynn Nottage’s
Intimate Apparel (seen here) Off-Broadway.
(© Joan Marcus)

Along with playing Angel Batista on
Dexter, David Zayas is a prolific stage actor and has been a member of Off-Broadway’s LAByrinth Theater Company since the early 1990s. Here he is opposite Elizabeth Canavan the 2008 production of
The Little Flower of East Orange.
(© Webb Wilcoxen)

Best known for playing the gruff Sgt. Doakes, Erik King appeared in the Vineyard Theatre’s 2008 Off-Broadway production of Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s
Wig Out!(© Carol Rosegg)

Christian Camargo (pictured here in the Theatre for a New Audience revival of
Hamlet) appeared throughout the eight-season run of
Dexter as the title character’s serial killer brother, Brian Moser.
(© Gerry Goodstein)

John Lithgow scared the pants off viewers as the Trinty Killer in the show’s landmark fourth season. A noted song-and-dance man, he won his second Tony Award for his work in
Sweet Smell of Success and scored another nomination for
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which he is pictured here.
(© Carol Rosegg)

Yvonne Strahovski wowed Broadway with her 2012 debut performance as Lorna Moon in
Golden Boy. On
Dexter, she currently plays Hannah McKay, a femme fatale with a penchant for plants and poison.
(© Paul Kolnik)

A longtime veteran of stage and screen, Jimmy Smits (pictured here in the 2004 Shakespeare in the Park production of
Much Ado About Nothing) played murderous Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado in season three.
(© Michal Daniel)

On the fifth season of
Dexter, Julia Stiles, who appeared on Broadway in the 2009 revival of
Oleanna and in the 2002 Shakespeare in the Park production of
Twelfth Night, played one of the title character’s murderous lovers, Lumen Pierce.
(© Craig Schwartz Photography)

Colin Hanks, who played the religious freak Travis Marshall in season six, made his Broadway debut in the 2009 Broadway production of
33 Variations opposite Jane Fonda and Samantha Mathis.
(© Joan Marcus)

Jonny Lee Miller (seen here opposite Marin Ireland in Roundabout Theatre Company’s
After Miss Julie) appeared in season five as murderous motivational speaker Jordan Chase.
(© Joan Marcus)

Before Keith Carradine kept his
Hands on a Hardbody, he played slain police detective Frank Lundy throughout the first four seasons of
Dexter. Prior to that role, he appeared on Broadway in
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,
The Will Rogers Follies, and
Hair.
(© Chad Batka)

Mos, a veteran of Broadway’s
Topdog Underdog and
A Free Man of Color, played one of Dexter’s spiritual friends, Brother Sam.
(© Michal Daniel)

Josh Cooke, who took on the red-herring role of Louis Greene, made his Off-Broadway debut in Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2012 revival of
The Common Pursuit.
(© Joan Marcus)