Jennifer Carpenter

American actress (born 1979) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jennifer Carpenter

Jennifer Carpenter (born December 7, 1979) is an American actress. She garnered wide attention for her role as the titular character in the supernatural horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), which established her as a scream queen. She rose to prominence for playing Debra Morgan in the crime drama series Dexter (2006–2013), which she reprised in the miniseries Dexter: New Blood (2021–2022). Her accolades include a MTV Movie Award and a Saturn Award, in addition to nominations for a Critics' Choice Television Award and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Quick Facts Born, Education ...
Jennifer Carpenter
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Carpenter in 2012
Born (1979-12-07) December 7, 1979 (age 45)[1]
EducationJuilliard School (BFA)
OccupationActress
Years active1998–present
Spouses
(m. 2008; div. 2011)
(m. 2016)
Children1
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Carpenter's television roles beyond Dexter include Rebecca Harris in the comedy drama series Limitless (2015–2016) and Erica Shephard in the drama series The Enemy Within (2019). Her film roles include Angela Vidal in the found footage horror film Quarantine (2008) and Sonya Blade in the direct-to-video Mortal Kombat films Scorpion's Revenge (2020) and Battle of the Realms (2021).

Early life and education

Carpenter was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Catherine (née Mitchell) and Robert Carpenter.[2] She attended St. Raphael the Archangel and then Sacred Heart Academy. She trained at the Walden Theatre Conservatory program,[3] and later at New York City's Juilliard School (Drama Division Group 31: 1998–2002).[4]

Before graduation, she was cast in the 2002 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.[5]

Career

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Perspective

Carpenter first attracted critical attention for her performance in The Exorcism of Emily Rose. She was cast in the film at the suggestion of co-star Laura Linney, who previously worked with Carpenter in a play.[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called her performance "gruelling" and Paul Arendt of BBC believed the film was effective "thanks to a committed performance from Jennifer Carpenter".[7][8] She took home the 2006 MTV Movie Award for Best Scared-As-Shit Performance and won Breakout Performer at the 2006 Scream Awards.[9][10]

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(L-R): John Lithgow, Jennifer Carpenter, Julie Benz and Michael C. Hall at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2009

Carpenter played the role of Debra Morgan in the Showtime crime drama television series Dexter, which premiered October 1, 2006. Her portrayal of the title character's adoptive sister impressed a number of critics, with Australian journalist Jack Marx describing her portrayal of "cool and clumsy" Debra as "so perfect that many viewers appear to have mistaken the character's flaws for the actor's."[11] For Dexter, she received numerous accolades in Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories, winning a Saturn Award from eight consecutive nominations, and earning nominations for a Critics' Choice Television Award and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

In 2008, she starred in Quarantine, an American remake of the 2007 Spanish horror film Rec, about a deadly zombie virus outbreak in an apartment complex.

In 2011, she starred in the off-Broadway play Gruesome Playground Injuries at Second Stage Theatre[12] and had a guest appearance on the CBS drama The Good Wife.[13]

In January 2014, it was announced that Carpenter would star in a new ABC drama Sea of Fire, playing FBI Agent Leah Pierce.[14] However, the show was not picked up as a series. In August 2014, it was announced that she would provide the voice of Juli Kidman in the survival horror video game The Evil Within,[15] marking her first video game appearance. The game was released in October 2014, and Carpenter provided voicework for two of The Evil Within's DLC chapters, "The Assignment" and "The Consequence", which featured Juli Kidman as the playable protagonist. However, Carpenter did not reprise the role in the game's sequel, The Evil Within 2, and her character was recast.

In early 2015, Carpenter was cast in the CBS drama series Limitless in which she co-starred with Jake McDorman.[16][17]

On July 13, 2021, Showtime confirmed that Carpenter would reprise her role of Debra Morgan in a 10-episode limited series, Dexter: New Blood, with Clyde Phillips returning as showrunner. The series premiered on November 7, 2021.[18][19]

Personal life

In 2007, she began dating her Dexter co-star Michael C. Hall.[20] 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.[20] In December 2010, Hall and Carpenter released a statement announcing that they had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, after having been separated "for some time".[21] The divorce was finalized in December 2011;[22] the two remain very close friends.[23][24]

On February 10, 2015, it was announced that Carpenter and musician Seth Avett were engaged and expecting their first child. Later that year, Carpenter gave birth to a son. She had been eight-and-a-half months pregnant when shooting the pilot episode of Limitless.[25][26] Carpenter and Avett married in May 2016.

Filmography

Film

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Bring It On Random girl
2001 People Are Dead Angela's friend #2
2003 Ash Tuesday Samantha
2004 D.E.B.S. Hysterical student
2004 White Chicks Lisa Anderson
2005 Last Days of America Friend in New York #2
2005 Lethal Eviction Sarah/Tessa/Beth Also known as Grayson Arms
2005 The Exorcism of Emily Rose Emily Rose
2006 The Dog Problem Redheaded waitress
2007 Battle in Seattle Sam
2008 Quarantine Angela Vidal
2010 Faster Nan Porterman
2011 Seeking Justice Trudy
2012 Gone Sharon Ames
2012 The Factory Kelsey Walker
2012 Ex-Girlfriends Kate Executive producer
2014 Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (voice) English version[27][28]
2014 The Devil's Hand Rebekah
2015 Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery Chikara (voice) Direct-to-video[28]
2017 Brawl in Cell Block 99 Lauren Thomas
2018 Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Selina Kyle (voice) Direct-to-video
2018 Dragged Across Concrete Kelly Summer
2020 Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge Sonya Blade (voice) Direct-to-video[29][28]
2021 Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms Sonya Blade (voice) Direct-to-video[30][28]
2021 A Mouthful of Air Lucy
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2005 Queen B Kristen Television film
2006–2013 Dexter Debra Morgan Main role
2009 Dexter: Early Cuts Debra Morgan 2 episodes
2011 The Good Wife Pamela Raker Episode: "Parenting Made Easy"
2011–2013 Pound Puppies Pepper (voice) 5 episodes[28]
2014 Robot Chicken Voices Episode: "Victoria's Secret of NIMH"
2015–2016 Limitless Rebecca Harris Main role
2019 The Enemy Within Erica Shepherd Main role
2021–2022 Dexter: New Blood Debra Morgan Miniseries; main role
2025 1923 Mamie Fossett Guest role
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Video games

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2014 The Evil Within Juli Kidman [28]
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Awards and nominations

References

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