'Dexter' Original Series Cast: Where Are They Now?

Dexter, the Showtime drama which stars Michael C. Hall as a serial killer with a strict moral code, has a complicated legacy. It’s a show that was hugely acclaimed in its early seasons, earning multiple Emmy nominations and a couple of wins, but has one of the most widely hated finales of all time.

But the good news for fans is that the series finale turned out not to be the end of Dexter’s story. Hall returned to the role in the 2022 miniseries Dexter: New Blood, which picked up a decade after the events of the original series and centered on Dexter’s now-grown son, Harrison. “A part of both the hesitation and the appetite surrounding going back was orbiting the fact that audiences loved the show but were very dissatisfied with the way it ended,” Hall admitted to GQ, ahead of the premiere of the show.

Following the success of New Blood, the Dexter cinematic universe has continued to expand. A prequel series, Dexter: Original SinI, premieres Dec. 13 and will star Patrick Gibson (Shadow and Bone) as a young Dexter, alongside Christian Slater as his adoptive father Harry, Molly Brown as his adopted sister Deb and Sarah Michelle Gellar as Dexter’s boss, CSI chief Tanya Martin. More recently, at San Diego Comic Con, it was also announced that Hall’s incarnation of Dexter will be returning for a sequel series, appropriately titled Dexter: Resurrection.

Here's a rundown of what the Dexter cast has been doing since the show ended in 2013.

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Dexter Original Series Cast: Where Are They Now?

Michael C. Hall

Prior to being cast in Dexter, Hall was already widely known to prestige TV fans for his acclaimed performance as David Fisher in HBO’s funeral home drama Six Feet Under, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Drama.

After Dexter, Hall has said that he was wary of being typecast and so “tried to say yes to things that invited me to do things I hadn’t done before.” Those projects included Season 2 of Netflix’s The Crown, where he played President John F. Kennedy, and movies including the Allen Ginsberg biopic Kill Your Darlings and the Rachel McAdams-Jason Bateman comedy Game Night.

Hall reprised the role of Dexter in the 2022 sequel miniseries Dexter: New Blood, which picked up a decade after the events of the original series and centered on Dexter’s now-grown son Harrison. In July of 2024, it was announced that Hall will star in another sequel series, titled Dexter: Resurrection, which is set in the present day.

Jennifer Carpenter

Carpenter played Dexter’s adopted sister Deb for all eight seasons of the original series. Her breakout role was in the 2005 horror movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, shortly after which she was cast as Deb.

Since Dexter, Carpenter has starred in the 2015 CBS dramedy Limitless, which is based on the Bradley Cooper movie of the same name, and in the 2019 NBC spy drama The Enemy Within. More recently, she reprised the role of Deb in the 2022 sequel series Dexter: New Blood. It’s unclear whether she’ll return for Dexter: Resurrection alongside Hall, although if she does, it will once again be as his ghostly conscience, as Deb died at the end of the original series.

Related: Reboots That Are Better Than the Original 

David Zayas

Zayas played homicide detective Angel Batista in all eight seasons of the series, and was one of the few original cast members whose character made it out alive. Since the show ended, he’s had prominent roles in Netflix’s Bloodline, Hulu’s Shut Eye and the Fox Batman prequel series Gotham. He reprised the role of Angel in two episodes of Dexter: New Blood.

Zayas recently appeared in Season 3 of The Bear, alongside his real-life wife Liza Colón-Zayas, who is a series regular on the FX show.

Related: Liza Colón-Zayas Reveals Her Favorite Scene of 'The Bear' Season 3

Lauren Vélez

Vélez played lieutenant Maria LaGuerta from the beginning of Dexter all the way through Season 7. Prior to that, she was already well known for her long-running role in the HBO prison drama Oz, and also had a recurring role on ABC’s Ugly Betty.

After wrapping up her run on Dexter, Vélez continued to work a lot on television, in shows including How to Get Away with Murder, Blue Bloods and MacGyver. She also appeared both Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and its recent sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).

Julie Benz

When she was cast as Dexter’s girlfriend (and eventual wife) Rita, Benz was best known for playing the vampire Darla in the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel.

Following her memorable exit from the show at the end of Season 4, Benz had a recurring role in Season 6 of the ABC dramedy Desperate Housewives, and a main role in the 2017 CBS series Training Day, a sequel series to the 2001 movie. More recently, she’s appeared in the Kirsten Dunst-starring Showtime series On Becoming A God in Central Florida, and has had guest roles on Love, Victor and Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star.

C.S. Lee

Lee played the wisecracking forensics analyst Vince Masuka in all eight seasons. He’s since made appearances in a number of shows, including HBO’s Silicon Valley and NBC’s Chicago Med, and recently played a recurring role in Season 4 of the Apple TV+ sci-fi drama For All Mankind.

Erik King

Although King was only part of the original cast for two seasons, he’s an indelible part of the show’s legacy. He played the strong-willed Sergeant James Doakes, whose rightful suspicious of Dexter led him into increasingly treacherous water. Since Dexter, he’s appeared in a handful of shows including Burn Notice and Banshee, and most recently two 2020 episodes of NBC’s The Good Fight.

Related: Watch the Official Trailer for 'Dexter: Original Sin'