Jennifer Carpenter

Jennifer Carpenter Photo

JENNIFER CARPENTER

Date of Birth: December 7, 1979

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Jennifer Carpenter's film career began to take flight in 2003, when she landed the role of Samantha in the indie film Ash Tuesday (2003), starring Janeane Garofalo. In her first big budget motion picture, D.E.B.S. (2004), Carpenter played a small role as a hysterical student. She landed a bigger role in her second big budget feature, White Chicks (2004), starring the Wayans brothers.

Back in indie films, she received her first starring role in Lethal Eviction (2005) opposite Judd Nelson. Carpenter had appeared on Broadway in The Crucible with Laura Linney, and when Linney was cast in The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), she recommended the young actress to the director, Scott Derrickson. Her initial audition tape impressed the producers and director, and when she came for the callback, Derrickson says, "I knew before she was finished that I was going to cast her."

Visual effects supervisor Michael Shelton told bloodydisgusting.com, "When I watched her audition tape it sent chills down my arm which was a shock to me considering what I do for a living. Jennifer rehearsed at our facility for several weeks before shooting began and early on we knew that everything we had planned on doing FX wise went out the window, meaning we didn't want to get in the way of what she was capable of doing as an actor. There were countless days on set where the entire crew felt effected by her abilities. Her performance is so honest and painful."

She is currently starring in the Showtime television production Dexter, about a serial killer who hunts down other serial killers. On December 31, 2008, Carpenter married her Dexter co-star, Michael C. Hall.

Filmography:

The Factory (2011)
Battle in Seattle (2008)
Quarantine (2008)
The Dog Problem (2006)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Lethal Eviction (2005)
White Chicks (2004)
D.E.B.S. (2004)
Ash Tuesday (2003)