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Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Michael C. Hall Answers Tons of Fan Questions on Reddit - "The Worst Thing a Fan Said to Me Is That the Finale of Dexter Sucked"

Michael C. Hall's Reddit AMA is over and we picked the best of the fan questions he answered. Was your question between the ones he responded?

Any funny stories from the set of Dexter? 
I did almost $1,000 of damage to the Slice of Life one time in a very unsuccessful and embarrassing attempt to try to dock it. It's on some blooper reel from the third season that circulated for a time.

What do you do for fun? [trg84]
Dress up as a woman and sing rock songs. Read. Go to movies by myself in the middle of the day. Walk the streets of New York. Pet my dog. Have sex.

At Hedwig I saw a crazed fan say some really inappropriate things to you which I found very bizzare however you kept ever so calm! What's the worst thing a fan have ever sent you/said to you? [serene_dream]
chuckles "The finale sucked!"

What was it like working with John Lithgow? [masonrb500]
A dream. He's someone I've always admired as an actor. And he brings such a genuine sense of joy, and play to his work, working with him on the 4th season of DEXTER is one of the collaborative highlights of my career.

What was it like working with Jennifer Carpenter after you got divorced? [searingm1]
It was challenging, inasmuch as we'd obviously gone through a lot. But ultimately, it was tremendously gratifying. The context of our relationship changed, but the relationship didn't end. And the fact that we were able to work together in a committed and intimate way and continue to tell a story that we both felt was worth telling meant a lot to both of us. We remain friends and I'm very thankful for that.

Read more after the jump!



Have you ever had any strange fan encounters? [jonemillard]
Not really. Though some people have volunteered to be a victim! And when I met Morgan Freeman, he said "Congratulations on your whole life." It was as if I were being invited to heaven by God himself!

What was your initial reaction when you read that Dexter becomes a lumberjack would be the final scene? [ohhelloplease]
(ponders) Probably sadness. Though... given what he'd been through, and his attempts to have his cake and eat it too in regards to indulging his compulsion to kill AND have a more authentic life, his self-imposed exile did resonate. I think Dexter came to believe that... anything he touched would eventually be destroyed and so he felt he needed to let it all go. Of course, Dexter is also a pragmatist and a self-preservationalist so he didn't do himself in. But rather put himself on hold.

 If they ever did a remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and offered you the part of Frank N. Furter, would you say yes? [GamoratheDeadly]
Definitely

What's your favorite band? [tejona]
Well, lately, especially while I'm getting ready for the show, I listen to a lot of Kyuss, and Sloburn.

What's your personal favorite movie and or series? [daquilaf]
Whew! Picking one movie is hard. A list of my favorite movies would include... The Big Lebowski Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (original) and Tender Mercies.

Do you ever talk to yourself in Dexter's voice? [TheSawssBawss]
Hahahaha! Well, we actually have the same voice, so I suppose I do all the time. But I don't imagine that Dexter is talking to me, haha!

What was the best memory you have of working on Dexter? Also, what are Desmond Harrington (Joey Quinn) and C.S Lee (Masuka) like off set? Do you all stay in touch? [casefacerokstar]
Desmond's a very sweet man, and a huge heart. Wait! So is C.S.! I don't mean to suggest that C.S. doesn't have a huge heart. They are both huge-hearted men. Truly.

And for some reason, I go back to when we shot on location in Miami and I... was just floating in that lagoon. I think it was for the top of the second episode. Dexter drifting in a lagoon, all his victims on the ocean floor beneath him... so tranquil.

Michael, I feel like you get sexier with age. Would you agree? [alexw1993]
Definitely.

Hey Michael! Just wondering, who's the one character you really REALLY hate from the show? Is it Laguerta? Its Laguerta isnt it?  [mariosiscool]
(smiles) Hahaha! No. It's Louis. nods.

What is the most recent meal that you have cooked for yourself? Favorite recipe? [TerriblePigs]
I microwaved a frozen burrito last night when I got home from work.

Do you prefer acting on Broadway or acting for television? I imagine the experiences are quite different and I'd love to know which one you enjoy more! [weird_harold]
Thankfully, I feel like whenever I'm asked that question, my first impulse is to pick whatever it is I'm currently doing. Right now I'm loving acting onstage. The intimacy and immediacy of performing with a live audience is a singular sensation.

You are producing and are attached to be the lead in Stanley Kubrick's unproduced drama God Fearing Man. Can you give us an update on this mini series project? It sounds fascinating and I'm really looking forward to it. [redder23]
Yeah, the Kubrick script is - or will be - the raw material for what we're imagining will be a miniseries and we're currently in the process of finding a writer to flesh out and expand that raw material. It's in its preliminary stages, but the prospect of bringing it to life is exciting.

How long does it take for you to do your make-up for Hedwig? [jviray]
Well, it's applied by a duo of professionals. It takes about 40-45 minutes. Predominantly they use MAC products.

Have you ever had dreams of actually being a serial killer? [tatricia]
Though I've had dreams that blurred my own reality and Dexter's. I had a dream where I was at a beach house with my extended family and the doorbell kept ringing. I'd go to answer it, and little Chino would be there (one of Dexter's more formidable victims) and i had to kill him. And every time I returned to the table, the doorbell would ring again. And he'd be there again, and I'd have to kill him again. It was tedious.

What do you think Dexter is up to right now? [morganharley]
(coughs) That's a good question. When we left him, he was... staring at the wall in a prison of his own making, and I think his self-imposed exile from the world continues. Though I imagine he's got a pretty serious itch he's aching to scratch.

1)Peter Krause has discussed a toll that the show took on him for diving head on into the darker material, did you feel any of that channeling David for five years?

2)How was Alan Ball on the set (I’m an aspiring writer, this stuff fascinates me) or as a showrunner in general?


3)Can you watch your own work? And if so, was the show as powerful to you as it was to fans since you were making it?

4)Did the cast click outside of work? Peter and you have such great chemistry and your scenes together were so powerful (can he cry on cue?).

5)Can you please get the cast together for some reunion panel? And could you tell HBO to release the show in HD/Blu Ray already? [welshwordman]

1) I suppose so. Initially, David called upon me to explore my own relationship with internalized daddy issues and doormat issues and self-loathing issues, and while that was initially revelatory, after a while it started to feel like I was tilling dead soil.

It's an occupational hazard if you play a character for a long time.

2) Alan's great. He's very kind, with a great (dark) sense of humor. He's... not precious about his words. He's a great communicator, in terms of being an actor's director. And as someone who ran the show, he was very much at the head of the table in the writer's room. He never told me how to play David. He left the how up to me. And I think that he did that with all of us.

3) I was inside the character and inside the experience of the show. So the element of discovery or surprise wasn't there, in the same way.

Watching SIX FEET UNDER was the first time I ever - in any significant way - watched myself, and initially it was very difficult. I felt like I was looking at a world otherwise populated by believable humans, except for one alien who would pass in front of the camera from time to time, the alien being me...

But I did come to enjoy watching the show, as a whole. And I think there's something to be gained from watching oneself. It's sometimes more excruciating than others.

4) I never really put a gun to Peter's head and asked him to cry, so I don't know if he can cry on cue, although he does have access to a broad spectrum of his emotional life, as actors do, but I do stay in touch with Peter. When I was living in LA, we were actually not living too far away from each other, so we were able to see each other quite a bit, and I did see him here in New York a few months ago, so we stay in touch.

5) That would be really fun, to sit down with everybody at this point. We're coming up on 10 years, I guess, or maybe it has been 10 years since we finished... As far as calling shots for the HBO marketing machine, I don't really know if I have any clout in that regard! chuckles



Rita. How did you prepare for her departure? Was it as heartbreaking and gut-wrenching for you as it was for us? [Psychotictiki]
In a different way, yes. I think honestly that from the moment of her death forward, Dexter was reeling and he never quite recovered.

What is something special about you that people aren't aware of? [1__3]
Silliness. I'm very silly.

Do you watch Game of Thrones? Would you consider joining the cast and if so what kind of character would you like to play? [seismicor]
I have to confess that I don't watch Game of Thrones. But that said, if I played a character on Game of Thrones, I would want him to be a badass Gallagher - who'd have a giant mallet, and crush people's heads with it, instead of watermelons.

Who was you favorite season guest star on Dexter, and why was it John Lithgow? I also want to thank you and congratulate you on beating cancer! 
Yes, I would pick John. Because he's one of the greats. And Trinity was the most formidable foe Dexter ever faced, and John is as fundamentally kind as Trinity is effed up. And thank you. Though I think medicine and a certain combination of chemotherapy drugs beat my cancer. But I had to show up.

What influences/inspires you to choose and play such complex roles as David Fisher, Dexter, and now, Hedwig?
I feel the roles choose me, as much as I choose them. Though I do find myself drawn to... characters who are negotiating some sort of fundamental conflict or secret or trauma.

Which actor(s) or actress(es) would you like to work with in the future?
Christoph Waltz. Meryl Streep.

What would you say you have most in common with Dexter? Also favorite food? 
Dexter and I look a lot alike. And I do tend to talk to myself more than I'd like to admit. Well, I guess I just admitted it. My favorite food... Italian food.
Which has been your FAVORITE season and antagonist?
It would be a toss-up for me between those 2 antagonists. The Ice Truck Killer, of course, is the most personal and intimate (given that he turns out to be Dexter's brother). But Trinity is the most formidable foe.

Just to get this out there, which Marvel character would you like to play and why is it Daredevil?
I don't know! I've always wanted to be able to fly. Someone who flies.

How fun was shooting Gamer with Gerard Butler? It's one of my favorite movies, and I never expected you to be such a great antagonist going in.
It was a lot of fun, especially the moment where I got to freeze him with my mind. This was after 300, you understand, so to momentarily dominate Leontes was a rush. Of course, he ended up stabbing me in the heart, but it was fun while it lasted.

How was it delving into the mind of a psychopath, and did you experience things similar to what Jack Nicholson experienced while portraying The Joker?

Also, what was your favourite scene on Dexter, and your favourite scene on Six Feet Under?

I don't know what Jack Nicholson experienced while playing the Joker.

My favorite scene in DEXTER is in the first season, 10th episode, when Dexter walks into the room filled with blood and does a face plant. Slip n' slide into the room! And my favorite scene on SIX FEET UNDER... would be... gosh, there are so many. I think of the end of the "That's my Dog" episode when David is doused in gasoline and has a gun shoved down his throat - not something I long to play every day but pretty intense. And the scene between Nate and David, in the room that Nate (after their father had died) discovered that his father kept - I think it's the sixth episode of the first season - it's called "The Room," that episode - I really love that scene.

F*ck, Marry, Kill - Lyla, Lumen, Hannah? 
It's tough, because I fucked all three and killed one of them. That being said... pondering... F*ck Lumen, Kill Lyla, Marry Hannah. Though I'd really like to do all 3 to all 3.

Who is your biggest inspiration?
My mother. smiles

Do you think Dexter died in the hurricane?
clears throat I'm reluctant to answer that definitively, because... I don't think your interpretation is necessarily invalid. It's subjective. Though I don't think the writers imagined that Dexter was dead, to be honest.

How did they shoot the scene with Harrison in the pool of Rita's blood? I assume they didn't have the kid sitting in a pool of red liquid, any TV magic used? 
 Well, it wasn't real blood. The red liquid WAS real. The baby's mother was right beside the camera. And we did our best to make it feel like playtime.

Do you think that Captain Matthews knew about Dexters secret?
That's a great question. I was always enticed by the idea that we would find out that he knew something. But things never went in that direction.

What kind of shoes are you wearing? Also, what do you smell like?
Right now my shoes are actually off. I'm wearing black socks. The shoes are actually totally inappropriate for the winter weather. They're like a slip-on perforated leather loafer type deal.
I smell like... home. Like Teen Spirit.

Honestly, how awkward was this interview?
It was pretty awkward. Mostly I felt sorry for her.

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