Actress Courtney Ford’s sexy, tour-de-force performance as investigative reporter Christine Hill on Showtime’s hit serial killer drama Dexter keeps us wanting more and more.  It also keeps us guessing about Christine, who seems like she might be hiding something behind that beautiful smile she's always flashing at Detective Quinn (Desmond Harrington). The gorgeous actress—whose grandparents are Spanish with Navaho and Zuni Indian—called up Vivo Por Tivo to talk about what’s coming up for her character Christine; told us why she’s been having nightmares ever since she joined the cast of Dexter this fall, and explained why she can no longer go to the supermarket without getting recognized by die-hard  fans of the show.

Congratulations on your Dexter role! You are amazing on the show.

Thanks!

Are you having fun playing Christine?

Yeah! I’m just so grateful to be able to be part of a show where everybody cares so much about the characters they’re playing, and they come to work everyday ready to work and excited about what they’re doing. Christine’s a great character, and it’s going to get better!

Were you a fan of the series before you were hired for the part?

I actually hadn’t seen the show when I got hired. I began to watch it, all three prior seasons, and then I became a huge nerd for the show, and I’d go to work everyday just completely excited and freaked out that I was actually working on it.

It’s a pretty scary show. Do you ever have nightmares about it?

I did have nightmares reading the scripts every week, yeah!

And yet you come off as such a tough girl on the show! Which is kind of funny.

On many separate occasions I had dreams of like every single member of the cast coming to my house and trying to kill me [Laughs].

Did the writers and producers tell you a lot about Christine’s back story when you got the role?

No. When I auditioned for the show, I was just this reporter and then when I started working on the show, I got to know more and more and more as we went on, and I was constantly surprised as I opened up the scripts every week. They don’t tell us a whole lot.

Christine is very likeable, but at the same time I can’t help but think she’s hiding something? Is she?

Well you know that I can’t tell you that. If you’ve been watching the show you know there have already been a couple of huge surprises. You’re not going to be disappointed—there are going to be more jaw dropping surprises.

What character on Dexter does Christine have the most in common with?

[Laughs] I’m not even gonna touch that one.

Do you feel like Christine is really in love with Quinn?

All I can say is that you’ll get the answers to all of your questions in the next few episodes.

Is it true that before you got hired to do Dexter you were thinking about quitting show business?

I didn’t use the word quitting. I actually don’t really like that word.  But I was thinking about making a change. I have a passion for baking and I was thinking about opening up a little cake shop. I’m still thinking about it, actually. Maybe I’ll do both.

Do you get recognized a lot in the street now that you’re on such a popular show?

I get recognized now every time I go to the grocery store. But it’s in my grocery store specifically—not so much like going to dinner, not so much putting gas in my car, but I’ll go pick up something from the grocery store and they’re like, ‘hey you’re on my TV every Sunday.’ It’s weird because a lot of the time I’m going to the grocery store in my pajamas, so its like 'oh, hi, sorry.'

Earlier this fall, Variety named you one of the Top 10 New Faces to Watch on Television. Were you honored by the news?

Yeah. It was a huge surprise…a crazy surprise. But I’m really honored to be part of that. That’s amazing!

What’s your dream role on television?

I’ve been really excited with the roles that are coming to me now. I actually just came back from Vancouver. I just filmed an episode of this show Human Target. And I got to do stunts, I got to work with the stunt coordinator and do fighting, I got to have a gun. It was crazy! That is something I’ve always wanted to do and I got to do it. I’m really happy I got to finally experience that special effects type stuff.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in LA. County. I was born in Huntington Beach, but I lived there for five seconds when I was a baby. My parents got separated and we kind of bounced around all over L.A. But mostly I lived in West L.A. and Santa Monica.

You’re married to Brandon Routh (Superman!). Do you guys see children in your future?

Oh yeah! Are you kidding!?

Tell us about your Hispanic roots.

On my mom’s side, my grandparents were born in New Mexico and their parents were born in New Mexico and their parents were born in New Mexico. And I think New Mexico was admitted into the Union in 1912. My great grandparents were born in 1916. So their parents were born in New Mexico before New Mexico was even part of the United States. Isn’t that crazy?