Dexter Cast & Where They Are Now

It’s been more than ten years since most of the original cast of Dexter have said goodbye to the celebrated series. While some beloved characters reprised their roles in the 2021 Dexter sequel series Dexter: New Blood, many of the original cast members moved on from the Emmy-winning series to pursue other projects in both film and television. None of the Dexter original cast members are expected to appear in the upcoming Dexter prequel series Dexter: Original Sin, which will be developed by New Blood showrunner Clyde Phillips. Michael C. Hall remains invested in the Dexter franchise as an executive producer on Original Sin.

The Dexter prequel series recently cast Grey’s Anatomy alumnus Patrick Dempsey as a new character in the story world. Dempsey will play Captain Aaron Spencer, a fellow police officer of Harry Morgan, Dexter’s father, who had previously been portrayed by James Remar but will be recast by Christian Slater. The two exciting additions of Slater and Dempsey imply that the series will focus more intently on Harry’s character working for the Miami Metro Police Department than ever before. The prequel chronicles the beginning of Dexter Morgan’s forensics career at the Miami Metro Police Department, which will bring back the classic original characters of Angel Batista, María LaGuerta, and Vince Masuka.

Michael C. Hall

Michael C. Hall will forever be known as the true Dexter Morgan due to his uniquely captivating performance as the titular character for eight seasons of the original series as well as the miniseries New Blood. Hall is notably a survivor of Hodgkin’s lymphoma after first getting diagnosed with the disease in 2010 during the fourth season of Dexter. After Dexter ended in 2013, Hall starred in a few movies such as Cold in July (2014), Christine (2016), Lazarus (2018), and Game Night (2018). He has also appeared in the television series The Crown, Safe, Documentary Now!, and The Defeated. He is expected to appear in 2025’s The Gettysburg Address alongside Dermot Mulroney and Sam Elliot.

Jennifer Carpenter

Jennifer Carpenter reprised her role as Debra Morgan alongside Michael C. Hall in Dexter: New Blood, appearing as a figment of Dexter’s imagination much like Harry Morgan did throughout the original series. Despite having a complicated and controversial onscreen relationship, Carpenter and Hall were married in real life during the production of Dexter between the years of 2008 and 2011. After Dexter concluded in 2013, Carpenter became a lead on the television adaptation of Limitless inspired by the 2011 Bradley Cooper movie. Carpenter also starred in 2019’s The Enemy Within and appeared in one episode of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel 1923.

James Remar

James Remar had a celebrated acting career before joining the cast of Dexter, appearing in dozens of films such as Cruising (1980) starring Al Pacino and directed by William Friedkin and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) as well as classic television series such as Hill Street Blues (1981), Miami Vice (1985), and The Equalizer (1987). After Dexter ended in 2013, Remar became a recurring character in Grey’s Anatomy season 10 and also appeared as Henry in Wilfred seasons 3 and 4, Animal Kingdom season 4, and City on a Hill (2019). Recently, Remar has appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture winner Oppenheimer as Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.

Julie Benz

Julie Benz was a main character in the first four seasons of Dexter before her shocking death in the season 4 finale, which aired on December 13, 2009. Benz also appeared in the Dexter season 5 premiere in 2010 before going on to star as Stephanie Powell in No Ordinary Family (2010-2011). She also appeared in A Gifted Man alongside Patrick Wilson and all three seasons of Defiance (2013-2015). Benz recently starred in Love, Victor and will star in the upcoming drama The Midway Point.

David Zayas

David Zayas was one of the few actors to appear in all 96 episodes of Dexter alongside Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, and James Remar. Zayas was also one of the few original Dexter cast members to reprise his role in New Blood. Zayas has appeared in several other notable roles in film and television following the conclusion of Dexter in 2013. He played Lou in the 2014 Annie remake and Sal Maroni in Fox’s Gotham series. He went on to star in the celebrated Netflix original series Bloodline alongside Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn, and Linda Cardellini. He has recently starred in Blue Bloods and The Blacklist.

Lauren Vélez

Lauren Vélez portrayed María LaGuerta for seven out of Dexter’s eight seasons after she was unforgettably killed by Debra in the season 7 finale. After exiting from Dexter, she starred in seasons 3 and 4 of How to Get Away with Murder in 2016 and 2017 and voiced Rio Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). Vélez also appeared in 2019’s Shaft and 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as well as American Rust season 2 (2024)