Michael C. Hall

Fans of this charismatic if decidedly creepy character actor may have a hard time imagining him singing and dancing on Broadway. But in fact this stage-trained player first made his name in the New York theater scene, racking up impressive off-Broadway credits before landing his breakthrough role as the sleazy emcee in the '90s revival of the musical Cabaret. Although he took over the role from Tony-winner Alan Cumming, Hall made the character his own with his unsettling intensity, a quality that would soon be showcased on the small screen on Six Feet Under. For five seasons, Hall captivated audiences and earned an Emmy nod as a meticulous, gay funeral director on the lauded HBO drama. During his tenure, he occasionally returned to the stage — notably opposite his then-wife, Amy Spanger, in the Broadway revival of Chicago — and made his big-screen debut in the muddled actioner Paycheck. But TV remained his medium, and in 2006 Hall returned to cable as the title character in Dexter, a forensic blood-spatter specialist who also happens to be a serial killer.