Jennifer Carpenter

Birthday: 7 December 1979, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Birth Name: Jennifer Leann Carpenter

Height: 174 cm

Jennifer was born in Kentucky. Her mother is Catherine Mitchell and her father is Robert Carpenter.She attended St. Raphael the Archangel and then Sacred Heart Academy. During her last two years of high school, she studied drama at the Walden Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. She then trained at the Juilliard School in New York City. In 2002, before she graduated, she made her Broadway debut in the revival of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.Her breakthrough film role was "Emily Rose" in The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005). She won a MTV Movie Award for "Best Frightened Performance" and a Hollywood Life Breakthrough Award. She was also named "Breakout Performer" at the 2006 Scream Awards.In 2006, she cast as Dexter's adoptive sister in Showtime's Dexter (2006). Here, she met her first husband, Michael C. Hall.In 2011, she starred in the off-Broadway play, "Gruesome Playground Injuries", at Second Stage Theatre and had a guest appearance on the CBS drama, The Good Wife (2009).In January, 2014, it was announced that Carpenter will star in a new ABC drama Sea of Fire (2014), playing "FBI Agent Leah Pierce". However, the show was not picked into series.In August, 2014, it was announced that she will provide the voice of "Juli Kidman" in the survival horror video game, PsychoBreak (2014), marking her first video game appearance. The game was released in October 2014. Show less «

At a very young age I was predicting outcomes, trying to take all the information and find the best ...Show more »

At a very young age I was predicting outcomes, trying to take all the information and find the best route to wherever I was going. I avoided a lot of pitfalls because of that. Show less «

One of the things I've started doing lately is tracking my dreams. I feel like there's a lot of info...Show more »

One of the things I've started doing lately is tracking my dreams. I feel like there's a lot of information there and you can really bring those emotions to the situations that may feel mundane or familiar. That gives them new life and gives you a new relationship with it - if that makes any sort of sense. Show less «

If you can create an environment where people are invited to do their best work and the best ideas a...Show more »

If you can create an environment where people are invited to do their best work and the best ideas always win, then the project itself will win. Show less «

My laundry list of wants in a partner is basically kindness. I want someone who is kind, and that's ...Show more »

My laundry list of wants in a partner is basically kindness. I want someone who is kind, and that's kind of where it begins and ends. I'm open to being surprised. Show less «

I have learned that keeping my personal life outside of work is the easier, richer way to work.

I believe in possibility, but I'm not sure I believe in demons.

I usually spend the hiatus of Dexter (2006) in New York in a way to balance things.

You know what, I'm happy to say that everything outside of Dexter (2006) feels like a vacation, and ...Show more »

You know what, I'm happy to say that everything outside of Dexter (2006) feels like a vacation, and I don't mean to say anything negative about the show. It's just a different kind of work. Emotionally, it's taxing and complicated, and that's a great thing. Show less «

It's always been a dream of mine to be in a Woody Allen comedy.

It's fun to branch out a bit. I feel like I've held a lot of tricks up my sleeve for a lot of years,...Show more »

It's fun to branch out a bit. I feel like I've held a lot of tricks up my sleeve for a lot of years, and Ex-Girlfriends (2012) is a good way to show another side of me. Show less «

I read Christopher McDougall's book "Born to Run". If running were a religion, this would be its bib...Show more »

I read Christopher McDougall's book "Born to Run". If running were a religion, this would be its bible. I actually scribbled my favorite passages on my arm to read during the race. Show less «

I love that there's a beginning, middle and end to a film and you can craft what the whole journey i...Show more »

I love that there's a beginning, middle and end to a film and you can craft what the whole journey is going to look like. Show less «

I went to school. I went to Juilliard. You spend 13 hours a day on voice and speech. Now I realize w...Show more »

I went to school. I went to Juilliard. You spend 13 hours a day on voice and speech. Now I realize why. Show less «

Practice being in the moment when you are running, whether you are on your own or in the race.

Comedy is like math - you can check your answer because you know you've gotten it right if you get a...Show more »

Comedy is like math - you can check your answer because you know you've gotten it right if you get a laugh. It just makes sense to me. I feel like because I've had to keep that tool in my box for so long, I'm ready to show it off a bit. Show less «

When I first got to L.A., I was stretching $20 a week, waiting tables, and I did that for about six ...Show more »

When I first got to L.A., I was stretching $20 a week, waiting tables, and I did that for about six months. I didn't mind it at all, I was really happy for that experience, but it made me really get aggressive about what I want. I've been doing this since I was eight, and never considered doing anything else, so I really had to kick it into gear. Show less «

At a young age I always had an entrepreneurial spirit. So I'm trying to develop things on my own, to...Show more »

At a young age I always had an entrepreneurial spirit. So I'm trying to develop things on my own, too, and there are a couple things that have absolutely nothing to do with the entertainment business that I'm trying to tackle. We'll just sort of see. Show less «

Well, I made an announcement to my family at 8 that I wanted to be an actor, and I focused like a la...Show more »

Well, I made an announcement to my family at 8 that I wanted to be an actor, and I focused like a laser beam on it. I never had a fallback plan. Show less «

My sister is a chiropractor and she says I have an unusually flexible lower back, but I don't do yog...Show more »

My sister is a chiropractor and she says I have an unusually flexible lower back, but I don't do yoga, and I don't feel like I'm very bendy. Show less «

Sometimes when I pick up a book off the shelf, when I'm buying a new book to read, I'll look at all ...Show more »

Sometimes when I pick up a book off the shelf, when I'm buying a new book to read, I'll look at all of them and they all have the exact same words inside, but I'll think that one is meant to go home with me. I'll never pick the first thing off the shelf, I'll always go one behind. Show less «

I never thought that I would be so attracted to television, but I don't think gigs like Dexter (2006...Show more »

I never thought that I would be so attracted to television, but I don't think gigs like Dexter (2006) come along too often. Show less «

It's sacred for an actor to keep their personal life personal.

I just want to be with great teachers. If that means I'm in a horror film with good teachers, I'll d...Show more »

I just want to be with great teachers. If that means I'm in a horror film with good teachers, I'll do another horror film. But I would love to branch out and do more comedy or just more straight dramas. Show less «

I hate to say it because I feel like it might be a jinx, but yes - knock on wood - I have never brok...Show more »

I hate to say it because I feel like it might be a jinx, but yes - knock on wood - I have never broken a bone. Show less «

In school, I was always being cast as the clown. And then I did The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), a...Show more »

In school, I was always being cast as the clown. And then I did The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), and once people hear you scream, they can't un-hear it. But I don't mean to say that I've been typecast, either. Show less «

I need to make sure that I'm taking roles that I feel like I can communicate through.

Jennifer Carpenter

Jennifer Carpenter's FILMOGRAPHY

Jennifer Carpenter'S roles

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