Michael Carlyle Hall (born February 1, 1971) is an American actor, best known for his roles as David Fisher in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and Dexter Morgan of the Showtime series Dexter.

Hall was born an only child in Raleigh, North Carolina. His mother, Janice Styons Hall, is a high school dean of students, and his father, William Carlyle Hall, worked for IBM. Hall's sister died in infancy before his birth, and his father died of cancer when Hall was eleven years old. In a 2004 interview he was quoted as saying,

Hall attended Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, graduating in 1989. He graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, in 1993. He later attended New York University's Master of Fine Arts program in New York City.