Jennifer Carpenter

Acting

Jennifer Carpenter

Born 1979-12-07 · Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Jennifer Carpenter (born December 7, 1979) is an American actress. She garnered wide attention for her role as the titular character in the supernatural horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), which established her as a scream queen. She rose to prominence for playing Debra Morgan in the crime drama series Dexter (2006–2013), which she reprised in the miniseries Dexter: New Blood (2021–2022). Her accolades include a MTV Movie Award and a Saturn Award, in addition to nominations for a Critics' Choice Television Award and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Carpenter's television roles beyond Dexter include Rebecca Harris in the comedy drama series Limitless (2015–2016) and Erica Shephard in the drama series The Enemy Within (2019). Her film roles include Angela Vidal in the found footage horror film Quarantine (2008) and Sonya Blade in the direct-to-video Mortal Kombat films Scorpion's Revenge (2020) and Battle of the Realms (2021). Carpenter was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Catherine (née Mitchell) and Robert Carpenter. She attended St. Raphael the Archangel and then Sacred Heart Academy. She trained at the Walden Theatre Conservatory program, and later at New York City's Juilliard School (Drama Division Group 31: 1998–2002). Before graduation, she was cast in the 2002 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.

Acting credits

White Chicks poster
7.0

Two FBI agent brothers, Marcus and Kevin Copeland, accidentally foil a drug bust. To avoid being fired they accept a mission escorting a pair of socialites to the Hamptons--but when the girls are disfigured in a car accident, they refuse to go. Left without options, Marcus and Kevin decide to pose as the sisters, transforming themselves from black men into rich European-American women.

White Chicks

2004

The Exorcism of Emily Rose poster
6.6

When a younger girl called Emily Rose dies, everyone puts blame on the exorcism which was performed on her by Father Moore prior to her death. The priest is arrested on suspicion of murder. The trial begins with lawyer Erin Bruner representing Moore, but it is not going to be easy, as no one wants to believe what Father Moore says is true.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

2005

Brawl in Cell Block 99 poster
7.0

After working as a drug courier and getting into a brutal shootout with police, a former boxer finds himself at the mercy of his enemies as they force him to instigate violent acts that turn the prison he resides in into a battleground.

Brawl in Cell Block 99

2017

Dragged Across Concrete poster
6.6

Two policemen, one an old-timer, the other his volatile younger partner, find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics becomes the media's cause du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due, but instead find far more than they wanted awaiting them in the shadows.

Dragged Across Concrete

2019

Faster poster
6.4

After 10 years in prison, Driver is now a free man with a single focus - hunting down the people responsible for brutally murdering his brother.

Faster

2010

D.E.B.S. poster
6.5

The star of a team of teenage crime fighters falls for the alluring villainess she must bring to justice.

D.E.B.S.

2005

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge poster
8.1

After the vicious slaughter of his family by stone-cold mercenary Sub-Zero, Hanzo Hasashi is exiled to the torturous Netherrealm. There, in exchange for his servitude to the sinister Quan Chi, he’s given a chance to avenge his family – and is resurrected as Scorpion, a lost soul bent on revenge. Back on Earthrealm, Lord Raiden gathers a team of elite warriors – Shaolin monk Liu Kang, Special Forces officer Sonya Blade, and action star Johnny Cage – an unlikely band of heroes with one chance to save humanity. To do this, they must defeat Shang Tsung's horde of Outworld gladiators and reign over the Mortal Kombat tournament.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge

2020

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms poster
7.6

When Shao Kahn's Outworld barbarians terrorize Earthrealm, Lord Raiden is determined to put an end to the carnage once and for all. This leaves one option: a final Mortal Kombat tournament for the future of Earthrealm – win it or lose everything. Raiden's elite fighters Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and a few new faces kick the action into overdrive as they go head-to-head with Outworld's most bloodthirsty warriors. But deep in the Netherrealm, an unspeakable scheme by the malevolent Shinnok unfolds, threatening to obliterate existence.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms

2021

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight poster
6.7

In an alternative Victorian Age Gotham City, Batman begins his war on crime while he investigates a new series of murders by Jack the Ripper.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

2018

Seeking Justice poster
5.9

After his wife is assaulted, a husband enlists the services of a vigilante group to help him settle the score.

Seeking Justice

2011

Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery poster
7.9

Get ready to Rock! Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. Gang team up with the one and only KISS in this all-new, out-of-this-world adventure! We join the Gang at KISS World – the all-things-KISS theme park, as they investigate a series of strange hauntings. With help from KISS, they discover that the Crimson Witch has returned to summon The Destroyer from the alternate dimension of Kissteria! The evil duos ghastly plan, to destroy the earth! Can the Gang's cunning and KISS's power of rock save the day?!

Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery

2015

Quarantine poster
5.8

A television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers.

Quarantine

2008

Gone poster
6.2

Jill Conway is trying to rebuild her life after escaping a terrifying kidnapping. Though she is having a difficult time, she takes small steps toward normalcy by starting a new job and inviting her sister, Molly, to move in with her. Returning home from work one morning, Jill discovers that Molly has vanished, and she is certain that the same man who previously abducted her has returned for revenge.

Gone

2012

The Factory poster
5.6

An obsessed cop is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. but when his teenage daughter disappears, he drops any professional restraint to get the killer.

The Factory

2012

Battle in Seattle poster
6.3

Thousands of activists arrive in Seattle, Washington in masses to protest the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 (World Trade Organization). Although it began as a peaceful protest with a goal of stopping the WTO talks, it escalated into a full-scale riot and eventually, a State of Emergency that pitted protesters against the Seattle Police Department and the National Guard.

Battle in Seattle

2007

A Mouthful of Air poster
6.5

Julie is a new mom and children's book author, who escapes into the bright Crayola-colored world of her creation in order to leave behind the darkness caused by her post-partum depression.

A Mouthful of Air

2021

Ballistic poster
5.0

Follows a secret operative who is forced into a psychological game with her own mind, at the same time she is being chased down by the program that created her.

Ballistic

2025

The Devil's Hand poster
5.2

Five young Amish girls accused of being Satan's children must fight for their lives when their devout community elders insist they be "cleansed" before turning 18.

The Devil's Hand

2014

The Dog Problem poster
6.1

In the film, Solo is a down-on-his-luck writer who is encouraged by his psychiatrist to get a dog. Solo meets his love interest, who he assumes to be a dog owner when meeting her at a dog play park, but dog problems stand in their way.

The Dog Problem

2006

Eleven Days poster
NR

In the sweltering heat of a Texas summer in 1974, Jim Estelle, head of the Texas Department of Corrections, plays a deadly game against the ruthless Federico Carrasco, a convicted heroin dealer who has taken over the Huntsville Penitentiary and holding dozens hostage after his pre-planned escape has gone awry. Lines between captor and captive, justice and survival, begin to blur as the siege spirals for eleven endless, terrifying days.

Eleven Days

Lethal Eviction poster
5.2

A first time landlord purchases a run-down, rent-controlled apartment building in hopes of making a solid investment. Everything seems to be going smoothly until, one by one, the tenants begin to meet strange, untimely gruesome deaths.

Lethal Eviction

2005

People Are Dead poster
4.5

A group of disconnected people are brought together by a string of awkward events in post-9/11 Manhattan. A body-snatcher (Mia Tyler) is gathering dead bodies off the streets and no one seems to know why, especially the two detectives (Eddie Steeples, Peter McNolte) who are assigned to find her.

People Are Dead

2002

No artwork available
NR

Tormented by the vengeful spirit of his deceased wife, a desperate widower enlists the aide of his ghost-hunting nephew to decipher the haunting’s meaning and bring peace to his household.

She's Still Here

Ex-Girlfriends poster
4.9

Jennifer Carpenter, Kristen Connolly and Alexander Poe star in a comedy about three New Yorkers struggling to uncover the truth behind their romantic entanglements. Disheartened by his latest relationship catastrophe, Graham (Poe) attempts to rekindle the spark with his ex-girlfriend, Laura (Connolly). In the attempt to win her back Graham discovers he has a unique problem: Laura and another one his ex-girlfriends (Carpenter) are dating the same guy.

Ex-Girlfriends

2012