Michael C. Hall

Revision as of 00:50, 1 June 2025 by imported>Youknowmyname657 (→‎2020s)
(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Template:Short description {{#invoke:Other people|otherPeople}} Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person

Michael Carlyle Hall (born February 1, 1971)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is an American actor and musician. He is known for playing the titular character in the Showtime series Dexter and David Fisher in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under. He won a Golden Globe Award for the former, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and received six total nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, which ties the record for most nominations in the category without a win.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He reprised his role of Dexter Morgan in the miniseries Dexter: New Blood and Dexter: Original Sin, and is set to reprise his role in Dexter: Resurrection.

Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Hall graduated from New York University's graduate acting program at the Tisch School of the Arts in 1996. He began his acting career on Broadway in the revival of Cabaret and appeared in a variety of shows throughout the 1990s. Aside from his roles on Six Feet Under and Dexter, he starred in the Broadway musical Hedwig and The Angry Inch and in films including Paycheck, Gamer, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House, Game Night, and In the Shadow of the Moon.

Early lifeEdit

Michael C. Hall was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. His mother, Janice (née Styons) Hall, was a mental health counselor at Lees-McRae College, and his father, William Carlyle Hall, was a systems engineer manager for IBM.<ref name="ref05">Template:Cite news</ref> Hall had one older sister who died in infancy before his birth. His father died of prostate cancer in 1982 at the age of 39 when Hall was 11 years old. He has said of this, "There was a very one-on-one, immediate family relationship, my mom and I."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a 2004 interview, Hall spoke about his experience in the wake of his father's death: "Certainly, for a young boy, there's no good age, but I think I was on the cusp of a time in my life where I was starting to reach puberty, to relate to my father. To have him ... something gets frozen. As you revisit it for the rest of your life, it's sort of this slow—but hopefully sure—crawling out of that frozen moment."<ref name="advocate_0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Hall discovered acting early in life: he performed in What Love Is when he was in second grade at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, North Carolina. In fifth grade, he began singing, first in a boys' choir, and later, in high school, in musicals, performing in standards such as The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, and Fiddler on the Roof. Hall graduated from Ravenscroft School in 1989 <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and enrolled at Earlham College, a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. At Earlham, Hall continued acting, starring in Cabaret and other productions. Hall graduated from Earlham College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1993. While he has said that he had planned to become a lawyer, he later acknowledged that he had never formed a serious intent to go to law school.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, Hall graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from New York University's graduate acting program at the Tisch School of the Arts in 1996.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CareerEdit

Early workEdit

Hall's professional acting career began in the theater. Off-Broadway, he appeared in Macbeth and Cymbeline at the New York Shakespeare Festival; in Timon of Athens and Henry V at The Public Theater; The English Teachers at the Manhattan Class Company (MCC); and the controversial play Corpus Christi at the Manhattan Theatre Club. He also performed the role of Paris Singer in the workshop production of a Stephen Sondheim musical (titled Wise Guys at the time, and in later versions, Bounce and then Road Show. His character's songs and function were transferred to the character Hollis Bessamer in the final version.) In Los Angeles, Hall appeared in Skylight at the Mark Taper Forum. As part of the Texas Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 1995, he played Lancelot in Camelot,<ref name="ref1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream,<ref name="ref1" /> and Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.<ref name="ref1" /> In 1998, Hall performed in William Shakespeare's Cymbeline, in the role of Posthumus Leonatus, which ran from August 4 to 30. In 1999, director Sam Mendes cast Hall as the flamboyant Emcee in the revival of Cabaret; this was Hall's first Broadway role. Hall's film credits from this period include the thriller Paycheck (2003) and the science fiction thriller Gamer (2009).

2000sEdit

Mendes suggested Hall for the role of closeted David Fisher, when Alan Ball began casting the TV drama Six Feet Under. "Everything opened up for me in Cabaret," but, Hall reported in a 2004 interview, "It slammed shut for David."<ref name="advocate_0" /> Hall's work in the first season of Six Feet Under was recognized with a nomination for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and for an AFI Award nomination for Actor of the Year in 2002. In addition, he shared in the Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series all five years that the show was in production, winning the award in 2003 and 2004.<ref>The Hollywood Reporter, Volume 401 Publisher Hollywood Reporter Inc., 2007</ref> In 2003, Hall toured as Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago. In 2005, he returned to off-Broadway theater in the premiere of Noah Haidle's Mr. Marmalade, playing the title character, an emotionally disturbed little girl named Lucy's imaginary friend.

Hall starred in and co-produced the Showtime television series Dexter, in which he played Dexter Morgan, a psychopathic blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, who moonlights as a serial killer/vigilante.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Jennifer Carpenter played his adoptive sister, Debra Morgan. The series premiered on October 1, 2006, and ended its run in 2013. After months of rumors, on April 18, 2013, Showtime announced via social media that season eight would be DexterTemplate:'s final season.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall also voiced Dexter Morgan in the animated web series Dexter: Early Cuts. For his work on Dexter, Hall was nominated for five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series from 2008 to 2012. The show itself was also nominated for Emmy citations in the Drama Series category in the same years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He won the 2007 Television Critics Association award for Individual Achievement in Drama at the 23rd TCA Awards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hall was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Drama in 2007 and 2008,<ref name="HFPA Official Nominees">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and won in 2010 at the 67th Golden Globe Awards.<ref>2009 Golden Globe Nominees HFPA Nominations and Winners Template:Webarchive</ref> Also in 2010, he won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 16th Screen Actor's Guild Awards.

2010sEdit

Hall's film credits include the 2011 drama The Trouble with Bliss (2011), the comedy Peep World (2012), and Kill Your Darlings (2013).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall performed in a film adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale's cult novel Cold in July,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> directed by Jim Mickle.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall portrayed Abraham Lincoln's advisor, Leonard Swett, in the documentary film The Gettysburg Address. In 2014, he returned to Broadway in the play The Realistic Joneses, starring in the role of John Jones. He assumed the title role in Hedwig and The Angry Inch on Broadway on October 16, 2014, and performed the role until January 18, 2015. Hall returned to the role of Hedwig from February 17–21, 2015, to replace John Cameron Mitchell, who had a knee injury.

At the end of 2015 and the start of 2016, Hall starred as Thomas Newton in the NYTW stage production of Lazarus, created by David Bowie and Enda Walsh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall performed the song "Lazarus", which appeared on Bowie's final album, Blackstar (2016), on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in December 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web

}}</ref> He later appeared in the London production from October 25, 2016, until January 22, 2017. In 2017, Hall played US President John F. Kennedy in season two, episode eight, "Dear Mrs Kennedy", of the Netflix historical drama The Crown, alongside actress Jodi Balfour as First Lady Jackie Kennedy.

Hall starred as Tom Delaney, a British widower and doctor, in Safe, an eight-part Netflix original crime drama which premiered on May 10, 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in 2018, Hall starred as Thom Pain in the off-Broadway production of Thom Pain (based on nothing), a one-man show written by Will Eno.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The show was directed by Oliver Butler for the Signature Theatre Company in New York City, and it ran from October 23, 2018, to December 9, 2018, after being extended twice.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Also in 2018, Hall narrated the audiobook version of Stephen King's horror novel Pet Sematary.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Since 2018, Hall has written for and performed in the NYC band, Princess Goes (formerly Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum), alongside Matt Katz-Bohen and Peter Yanowitz. Hall met drummer Yanowitz while performing together in Hedwig and The Angry Inch. They struck up a friendship and soon began collaborating on songs with Katz-Bohen, who was also a member of the Hedwig cast.

On February 3, 2019, Hall starred as a fictionalized version of himself in the half-hour-long, one-time-only Broadway musical, Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> That same year, Hall starred as Holt in the Netflix thriller film In the Shadow of the Moon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall voices the character Toffee in Daron Nefcy's Star vs. the Forces of Evil and also voiced Batman in Justice League: Gods and Monsters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Also in 2019, Hall starred alongside Martha Plimpton and Hamish Linklater in an episode of the theatre podcast Playing on Air, titled "Nudity Rider".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2019, Princess Goes filmed their first music video for their song, "Ketamine", in Tarrytown, New York.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The audio for the song was featured in the end credits for Dexter: New Blood episode 5 "Runaway", and "Ketamine" has been remixed by several artists on the Ketamine EP.

2020sEdit

File:Michael C. Hall 2023.jpg
Hall performing with the band Princess Goes in 2023

Hall previously stated he would be open to returning for a Dexter spinoff series, but said: "I can't even wrap my mind around that. And it's all just theoretical until there is some sort of script reflecting somebody's idea of where it could possibly go. But it's hard for me to imagine what that would be. Yeah, as far as playing Dexter again for an undefined amount of time, that's a little daunting to consider. But doing another television series—there's a lot of amazing stuff on TV. I don't want to do that right away. But I wouldn't say never to that."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has said he would consider revisiting his role as the serial killer if something was written that he deemed "worth pursuing".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Showtime president David Nevins said there had been discussions for a Dexter spinoff series that would take the character in a different direction and not continue the previous series. Nevins said they would only do the show if Hall agreed to return.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In October 2020, Showtime confirmed that Hall would reprise his role of Dexter Morgan in a 10-episode limited series titled Dexter: New Blood, with Clyde Phillips returning as showrunner. The series premiered on November 7, 2021<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and ended on January 9, 2022. The series finale was the most watched finale in the history of the network, it also set streaming records as well.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum released their eponymous debut EP on April 2, 2020.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2021, the band self released their first full length album, Thanks for Coming. In 2023, the band released their second full length album, Come of Age through So/In De Goot Recordings, simultaneously shortening their name to Princess Goes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On September 21, 2024, the band played Riot Fest in Chicago. Princess Goes has toured all over the globe and continues to record and perform their music.

Personal lifeEdit

In 2002, Hall married actress Amy Spanger. The summer after their wedding, Hall played Billy Flynn opposite Spanger's Roxie Hart in the Broadway musical Chicago. The pair divorced in 2006.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, Hall began dating his Dexter co-star Jennifer Carpenter.<ref name="EOnline109" /> They eloped on New Year's Eve 2008 in California and publicly appeared together for the first time as a married couple at the 66th Golden Globe Awards in January 2009.<ref name="EOnline109">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In December 2010, Hall and Carpenter released a statement announcing that they had filed for divorce after having been separated "for some time".<ref name="EW1213">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The divorce was granted for irreconcilable differences and finalized in December 2011; however, the two remain close friends.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 2012, Hall began dating Morgan Macgregor, who was an associate editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books, and they married on February 29, 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On January 13, 2010, Hall's agent and spokesman confirmed that Hall was undergoing treatment for a form of Hodgkin's lymphoma. In an interview, Hall said that it was upsetting to learn of his cancer when he was 38 years old, as his father had died from cancer at age 39.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hall accepted his Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award in 2010 while wearing a knitted cap over his bald head, having lost his hair due to chemotherapy, which he covered with a wig in season 5 of Dexter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On April 25, 2010, Carpenter announced that Hall's cancer was fully in remission<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and he was set to get back to work for the 6th season of Dexter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hall is the face of the Somalia Aid Society's "Feed the People" campaign. He has also worked with Kiehl's to promote a limited-edition skin care line that benefits Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental nonprofit organization that works toward clean and safe water worldwide.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2011, Hall was the celebrity spokesperson for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's "Light the Night Walk" fundraising campaign.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

FilmographyEdit

FilmEdit

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Paycheck Agent Klein
2009 Gamer Ken Castle
2011 Peep World Jack Meyerwitz
2012 The Trouble with Bliss Morris Bliss
2013 Kill Your Darlings David Kammerer
2014 Cold in July Richard Dane
2015 Justice League: Gods and Monsters Kirk Langstrom / Man-Bat Voice, direct-to-video
2016 Christine George Peter Ryan
After Adderall Director
2017 Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House John Dean
2018 Game Night The Bulgarian
2019 The Report Thomas Eastman
In the Shadow of the Moon Det. Holt
2021 John and the Hole Bradley Shay

TelevisionEdit

Year Title Role Notes
1999 As the World Turns Jerry Klein 1 episode
2001–2005 Six Feet Under David Fisher 63 episodes
2004 Bereft Jonathan Television film
2006 Mysteries of the Freemasons Narrator
2006–2013 Dexter Dexter Morgan 96 episodes; also executive producer
2011 Vietnam in HD Narrator 6 episodes
2012 Ruth & Erica Tom 3 episodes
2014 Years of Living Dangerously Himself Episode: "A Dangerous Future"
2015 Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles Kirk Langstrom / Man-Bat Voice, episode: "Twisted"
2015–2019 Star vs. the Forces of Evil Toffee Voice, 11 episodes
2017 The Crown John F. Kennedy Episode: "Dear Mrs. Kennedy"
2018 Safe Dr. Tom Delaney Also executive producer
2019 Documentary Now! Billy May "Dead Eyes" Dempsey Episode: "Any Given Saturday Afternoon"
2020 The Defeated Tom Franklin Miniseries
2021–2022 Dexter: New Blood Dexter Morgan / Jim Lindsay Limited series; sequel to Dexter
2024–present Dexter: Original Sin Dexter Morgan citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

2025 Dexter: Resurrection citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

TheaterEdit

Year Title Role Venue
1996 Henry V Earl of Warwick Delacorte Theatre
Timon of Athens Caphis Delacorte Theatre
Skylight Edward Sergeant Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
1998 Macbeth Malcolm The Public Theater
Corpus Christi Saint Peter Manhattan Theatre Club
Cymbeline Posthumus Leonatus Delacorte Theatre
1999–2000 Cabaret Emcee Studio 54
2002 Chicago Billy Flynn Richard Rodgers Theatre
2004 R Shomon Morito/Thief/Reporter Williamstown Theatre Festival
2005 Mr. Marmalade Mr. Marmalade Laura Pels Theatre
2014 The Realistic Joneses John Jones Lyceum Theatre
2014–2015 Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig Belasco Theatre
2015–2017 Lazarus Thomas Jerome Newton New York Theatre Workshop
King's Cross Theatre
2018 Thom Pain (based on nothing) Thom Pain Signature Theatre Company
2019 Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical Himself Midtown Manhattan's Town Hall

Web seriesEdit

Year Title Role Notes
2011 CollegeHumor Originals Bryan citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

2023 The Hacker Chronicles John Doe citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Awards and nominationsEdit

Year Association Category Nominated work Result
2002 American Film Institute Awards Male Actor of the Year in a Television Series Six Feet Under Template:Nom
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Template:Nom
2003 Screen Actors Guild Awards Template:Won
2004 Screen Actors Guild Awards Template:Won
2005 Monte-Carlo Television Festival Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Template:Won
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Template:Nom
2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards Template:Nom
Satellite Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Dexter Template:Nom
2007 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Template:Nom
Satellite Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Template:Won
Saturn Awards Best Actor on Television Template:Won
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Television Critics Association Awards Individual Achievement in Drama Template:Won
2008 Astra Awards Favorite International Personality or Actor Template:Nom
Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Template:Nom
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Satellite Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Template:Nom
Saturn Awards Best Actor on Television Template:Nom
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
2009 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Template:Nom
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Saturn Awards Best Actor on Television Template:Nom
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Template:Nom
2010 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Template:Won
Monte-Carlo Television Festival Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Template:Won
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Satellite Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Template:Nom
Saturn Awards Best Actor on Television Template:Nom
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Template:Won
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Template:Nom
2011 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Template:Nom
Monte-Carlo Television Festival Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Drama Series Template:Nom
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Saturn Awards Best Actor on Television Template:Nom
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Template:Nom
2012 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
Saturn Awards Best Actor on Television Template:Nom
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Template:Nom
2013 Saturn Awards Best Actor on Television Template:Nom
2014 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Ensemble Performance The Realistic Joneses Template:Won
2016 Lucille Lortel Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical Lazarus Template:Nom
Drama League Awards Distinguished Performance Template:Nom
Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical Template:Nom
2017 WhatsOnStage Awards Best Actor in a Musical Template:Nom
2022 Saturn Awards Best Actor on Television Dexter: New Blood Template:Nom

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1={{{id}}}|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm{{{id}}}/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+%0A++++++%7C+%7B%7B%7Bname%7D%7D%7D%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if:   {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: 
 | {{{name}}}
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: {{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source={{{id}}}|plain=false}}

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}

  • {{#if: {{#property:P1220}}

| [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/{{#if:

 | {{{id}}}
 | Template:First word
 }} {{#if: 
 | {{{name}}}
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck{{#ifeq:0|0|{{#if:||}}}}

| {{IBDB name}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.{{#ifeq:0|0|}}

}}

Template:Navboxes

Template:Authority control