‘Dexter’: Michael C. Hall Stopped Autographing Knives for This Reason

Michael C. Hall is best known for his role as Dexter Morgan in the Showtime series, Dexter. It’s no small task to play one character for almost a decade. Fans often associate the actor with the character. Hall’s character Dexter is a serial killer, so the requests he received from fans were pretty interesting. He was even asked to sign knives, but he stopped doing that for a pretty practical reason.

Michael C. Hall immersed himself in his role as Dexter

Hall’s character Dexter is a “neat monster,” a serial killer who channels his urge to kill into killing other serial killers. Dexter is a surprisingly likable blood splatter analyst by day. For nearly a decade, Hall immersed himself in the mind of Dexter. His character definitely had an effect on him.

In an interview with Strombo, Hall described the complex emotions he felt once the original Dexter series had finished filming. “It’s a real soup of feelings. Some sadness, some wistfulness, some pride, but also some relief at not carrying around the obligation to simulate this murderousness,” he said.

Hall also felt that the experience of playing a serial killer almost felt like reality. “Having played somebody who kills people and is able to go on with his life, there’s a sense of ‘What have I done? Oh my god,'” Hall told Strombo. “I know it was all a simulation, but I think there’s some part of me that thinks it really happened,” he joked.

Fans asked Hall to sign their knives

When Hall began filming Dexter, he didn’t expect the show to become as widely popular as it did. “I thought the show would maybe attract a sort of niche audience,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “That it was as broadly popular or appealing as it was, it was a bit of a surprise.”

The series became extremely popular and some fans came to equate Hall with his character. He got some pretty weird requests due to this. “Meeting strangers and having them ask if I would pretend I was killing them… and I’ve signed a lot of knives,” Hall told Entertainment Weekly.

Dexter carries around an array of knives throughout the series. They are his weapon of choice for dispatching his murderous victims. However, Hall eventually decided to put an end to the knife signing, for a practical reason. “I’ve stopped doing that, in part because I worry that somebody will, you know, commit a crime,” he said to the outlet. “Can you get in trouble if you sign the murder weapon?”

‘Dexter’ is coming back to Showtime

In spite of the sense of relief he felt when filming for Dexter had wrapped, Hall decided to take up the mantle once again. Showtime announced that the series will have a revival called Dexter: New Blood. The revival will take place 10 years after the events of the Dexter finale.

Even after many years of separating himself from his character, Hall didn’t seem to have any trouble becoming Dexter again. “It’s like discovering that this person that you thought you’d put away, he’s been there all along, off somewhere having his dream and you just turn the cameras back on,” Hall said in an interview with Showtime.

Dexter: New Blood will premiere Sunday, Nov. 7 at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime.