Interview: Brea Grant Talks Dexter

Read Shockya's exclusive interview with actress Brea Grant, who portrays lab intern Ryan Chambers in the upcoming sixth season of Showtime’s hit drama series ‘Dexter’ co-starring Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter. Grant, who was excited to audition for the role because she’s a fan of the serial killer-based show and is a horror enthusiast, has also appeared in ‘Halloween II’ and TV’s ‘Heroes.’ The actress discusses with us, among other things, how she prepared for the role of Ryan, and why she decided to write a zombie series called “We Will Bury You” with her brother Zane.

Written by: Karen Benardello


ShockYa (SY): You’ll be appearing as Ryan Chambers in three episodes of the upcoming sixth season of ‘Dexter,’ which is set to debut in Fall 2011. How does Ryan fit into the season’s storyline?

Brea Grant (BG): I’ll be playing a new lab intern at the Miami Police Department who is a perfect match for Masuka…in many ways.

SY: What attracted you to Ryan? Were you a fan of the series before you were cast?

BG: I was a fan of the show (who isn’t??) because it’s so smartly written and pushes so many boundaries. When I got the opportunity to audition for the show, I jumped at it. Ryan’s a completely different character for me. I’m generally the smart but kind of dorky girl who marches to the beat of her own drum. There are elements of that here, but Ryan is definitely written as “sexy” as well as smart and a little dark. So, it’s interesting for me to be the hot girl on set as opposed to the girl with the glasses.

SY: How did you prepare for not only your role of Ryan, but also for appearing on a hit cable drama series about a serial killer? Did you do any research into the minds of killers?

BG: Ryan has an interest in the dark side, particularly in murderers and serial killers so because of that, I had a great excuse to read a bit of serial killer history, as well as re-watch earlier seasons of Dexter due to her obsession with Miami serial killers. But in as is the way with television, I think I knew I was going to be on the show about 4 days before I started shooting, so my prep time is always limited.


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