Michael C. Hall opens up about shocking deaths on 'Dexter' and his recovery from cancer

Michael C. Hall at Comic--Con International 2010 in San Diego

These past two years have been very intense for Michael C. Hall. He eloped with his "Dexter" co-star Jennifer Carpenter, he successfully battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and he’s been winning awards for his performance in the Showtime hit series "Dexter," in which he plays Miami Police Department forensic experts Dexter Morgan, who lives a secret life as a vigilante serial killer. In 2009, Season 4 of "Dexter" blew away millions of the show’s fans for its shocking storyline, which led to the show’s highest ratings so far. During the season, Dexter’s detective co-worker Deb Morgan (played by Carpenter), who grew up with him as a foster sister, uncovered a family secret: Her late father had an affair with Dexter's biological mother.

Throughout the show’s fourth season, Dexter also had been tracking and plotting to kill notorious serial murderer Arthur Mitchell, also known as the Trinity Killer (played by John Lithgow), who managed to evade capture for several decades. The Trinity Killer was the catalyst for the most disturbing twist so far in "Dexter’s" history. In the season-finale episode, when the Trinity Killer realized what Dexter had been planning, the Trinity Killer murdered Dexter’s wife, Rita (played by Julie Benz), while she was at home with her and Dexter’s infant son, Harrison. The episode ended with Dexter coming home to discover Rita’s slaughtered body, with Harrison crying nearby and covered in his mother’s blood. It was a cruel irony of history repeating itself, since Dexter was orphaned as a baby after his single mother was murdered in a brutal bloodbath. An infant Dexter was also found at the crime scene covered in blood and crying near his mother’s body. It is presumed that Dexter witnessed his mother’s death.

How Dexter will cope with the aftermath of Rita’s murder (and the suspicion that will inevitably fall on him) will no doubt keep "Dexter" fans riveted to see what happens next. I caught up with Hall at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, where he was appearing on two discussion panels on July 22: "The Anti-Heroes of Showtime" and "Dexter." Right before he participated in panels, we sat down to talk about what "Dexter" fans can expect in the show’s fifth season (premiering September 26) and how he’s been doing since his health recovery.

Michael C. Hall in "Dexter"

I know you can’t give away any spoilers, but can you talk about how Dexter is going to handle being a single father? That responsibility will be completely new territory for him. And is he going to be suspected of murdering Rita?

The last part, that’s something that will be addressed, that possibility. I think, in as much as he is consciously connected to his emotional life, it’s a very challenging time. I think there are more subterranean feelings he will be struggling with. There are logistical issues that obviously exist as well. His wife is no longer there to care for the children — and as importantly — to cover for him when he’s out. So it’s sort of mind-boggling.

We’re a third of a way through shooting [Season 5 of "Dexter"]. I feel like the questions you’re asking are questions I try to answer on a daily basis as we move through each episode. We’re not leaping forward or anything. We’re seeing the aftermath [of Rita’s murder].

Are we going to see Dexter’s sister Deb helping to raise Dexter and Rita’s children?

Yeah. As Dexter is for her, she’s basically it, in terms of a connection to immediate family. So of course, that’s going to be expected in a situation like this. She steps up and does her part. But, again, the underlying suspicions in this case and the questions she has do remain.

Michael C. Hall and Julie Benz in "Dexter"

The first episode of Season 5 reportedly shows Rita’s funeral. What was going through your mind when you saw Rita in the casket?

It was heavy. I think in that first episode [of Season 5], I think the [Dexter] character is in a suspended shock when he encounters his wife’s corpse. I think that’s primarily where he’s experiencing it: from a place of shock. It was fun for me to be on the other side of an intake meeting after having done after having done "Six Feet Under" for five years and do a scene with a funeral director who wasn’t played by me. It’s really pretty unbelievable what [Dexter] and those kids have been saddled with.

In a way, it’s like a new origin story. The Dexter we first meet, his origin story is that baby in the blood. But now, Dexter’s own son is in that blood, and some of that blood is on [Dexter’s] hands because of his indulgence in the relationship with Trinity.

What was it like to film the funeral scene? Did Julie Benz have a hard time playing dead? Were the actors somber off the set, or did you seek any comic relief, the way many actors cope with having to film scenes about death?

It’s a pretty creepy thing to get into a casket, especially if you’re acting dead, which usually goes along with it if you’re being filmed. And in the standard of "rolling" and "action," in between those two things, you hold your breath. They can edit around where the eyes flickers or where the stomach rises.

We took care of it and didn’t joke around too much. We laughed at the absurdity of the situation, but I certainly wasn’t trying to get her to crack up. I wanted to get her to be able to get out of there [the casket] as soon as she could.

Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter at Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego

You’ve had a big health scare and a very brave recovery. How are you feeling right now?

Oh, I feel great. The Hodgkin’s [lymphoma] has been in remission for some time now, and my treatment ended a few months ago. I feel strong. I feel really good and really thankful.

You’re an inspiration to a lot of people.

That’s gratifying to know.

What’s surprised you the most, in terms of how the Dexter character has changed from the beginning of the first season until now?

If you told me when we shot the ["Dexter"] pilot that the character would marry, the character would become a father to his own child and to two other children, that he would go to drug rehab to keep his wife’s suspicion at bay — all the stuff’s that’s happened is beyond anything I imagined. On the other front, I never thought there would be a bobblehead of this character. It’s all just kind of gravy at this point.

Michael C. Hall in "Dexter"

Have you thought about what kinds of roles you want to do after the "Dexter" series ends?

I probably will shy away from playing another serial killer. I would love to do something where, from beginning to end, I neither create nor encounter a dead body. I think I’ll probably find something.

Now that Dexter is a widower, how do you think his love life is going to be portrayed in the upcoming season?

I don’t think Dexter is looking for a new relationship. I think his impulse to behave compulsively manifests itself in different ways.

Where do you think Dexter will end up when the series ends? Do you think he will be caught? Do you think he will decide to stop killing, without people in his life finding out that he’s a serial killer? Or do you think he won’t change his habits?

There is some evolution, but there also are consequences — we certainly learn that from the fourth season — for the life that he’s living. I don’t know. I think all of us have some sort of vague or specific notion or notions about where things might end up. We have yet to quite go there.

Michael C. Hall in "Dexter"

Do you still read Jeff Lindsay’s "Dexter" books, especially when he comes out with a new one?

No, because we no longer really base it on those books. I think it might make my brain hurt or something.

Julie Benz says that, besides the funeral scene, she will be doing new guest appearances on "Dexter," in flashback scenes of when Rita was alive. Is that true, and can you talk about it?

Yeah. She will do more than just lie in a casket.

Season 4 of "Dexter" was the most shocking, most critically acclaimed and highest-rated of the series so far. How do you deal with the pressure to top that season?

I think we always feel challenged to tell a story that’s compelling to people. But in as much as we feel pressure, because the [Season 4] final created such a splash, we also feel like the landscape is kind of wide open now, because so much of what we’ve come to know as Dexter’s world has been taken away. It’s a responsibility to the show, to the fans, but also a sense of excitement in terms of evolving to a new place we can take it.

Michael C. Hall in "Dexter"

Will the grandparents of Rita’s kids cause problems for Dexter, in terms of him having custody of the children?

The kids [Rita’s two children from a previous marriage], at the end of fourth season, are off to Disney World with Paul’s [Rita’s late ex-husband’s] parents, and they will be in the picture because they’re there when the news comes of what’s happened. So [the rest], that I can’t tell you.

What’s your biggest fear for how the Dexter character will evolve over time?

I think the biggest fear I have is stagnation. If there’s anything to get through what’s happened to him, it might be his blind emotional spots. Otherwise, maybe he’d crumble and or end up in an insane asylum, which he doesn’t — at least not yet.

Photo credits: Photo #1: Carla Hay. Photo #4: Getty Images. All other photos: Showtime.