Jennifer Carpenter - Jennifer Carpenter Begins Marathon Training

The actress has begun training for the gruelling race as part of an attempt to be more active in her personal life, since her role as a homicide lieutenant in the dark TV drama can be draining.

She tells Us Weekly magazine, "I'm training for the New York marathon. On the weekends you can just hole up and do nothing, and then your whole life is about work, so I'm trying to get out of my house. I run, I started taking some new classes, I joined Lacma (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), I want to take a painting class. I'm trying to stay busy."

Carpenter, who was previously married to her Dexter co-star Michael C. Hall, also likens her passion for acting to an "addiction", insisting, "I just can't get enough of it."

She adds, "It never feels like it's closing in on me. I just need to keep a good balance... I have learned that keeping my personal life outside of work is the easier, richer way to work. I truly go to work and disappear into (my character's) skin. And when I sort of check back into my life, a life I know I'm very lucky to have and take very good care of, it's easy. I somehow scored three days off this week and I booked it to New York and just sort of disappeared with friends."