Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter may have the foulest mouth on television.
The actress, who plays recently reinstated Miami Metro detective Debra Morgan on Showtime's serial-killer drama, is no stranger to f-bombs. By her own accounts, she figures the character -- whose gangly cop has grown over the show's eight seasons to become the (former) head of Miami Metro -- has muttered "thousands and thousands" of expletives.
"I have to say, the writers came up with some doozies," Carpenter said Thursday during a Paley Center panel celebrating the show's final season. "There were a handful of times that I would text some [profanity suggestions for Deb]. Some were accepted, some were rejected. The only time that I feel like I had any input was when I would say, 'An f-bomb doesn't feel right here. An f-bomb feels appropriate here.' I got to move them around a little bit."
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"I have many [favorites]," she added during the panel, which was live-streamed on AOL, which likely limited the cast's use of profanity. "One that's not even a bad one, but 'Christ on a crutch' is really unique and it's really effective."
"I've always liked, 'I'd rather put out a campfire with my face,' " co-star Michael C. Hall added of his on-screen foster sister's potty mouth, drawing laughs from the assembled audience, many of whom confessed to skipping work to attend the event.
The cast, including David Zayas (Batista), C.S. Lee (Masuka) and Desmond Harrington (Quinn), among others, were joined on stage by executive producers Sara Colleton and Scott Buck. The panel was both funny and emotional, with many of the assembled players getting sentimental about the end of the show's eight-season run. (The series finale airs Sept. 22, opposite the Emmys.)
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While everyone was tight-lipped about how Dexter will ultimately conclude, Carpenter seemed pleased with how Deb's journey ends. "Everything led up to this finale. We built a beautiful, confusing, conflicting structure, and I was happy with the finished product and happy to walk away. The only reason I'm okay walking away is because the finale felt appropriate and right," she said.
She also remained steadfast that Deb should not be the focus of the buzzed-about Dexter spinoff featuring her character. "I think I have played Deb from start to finish," Carpenter said. Interjected Colleton, "Anything is possible!"
Dexter has two remaining episodes left in its eighth and final season, airing Sundays at 9 p.m. on Showtime. Hit the comments below with your thoughts on Deb. Do you think she'll be killed off?
E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
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