Last week we reported on the rumor that Dexter was courting Julia Stiles (The Bourne Ultimatum); today, it's official.  Stiles will appear in all ten episodes of season five, which will commence production this month for a September premieres.  The details of her role are still a bit murky, but the first half of the character description refer to her as a "mysterious young woman who forms a unique relationship with Dexter".

The last half of said description verges into spoilers for the end of season four, so I'll let you decide whether or not you are prepared to read it in the full press release after the jump.

dexter_tv_show_image__2_

Here's the official press release:

JULIA STILES SLICES INTO DEXTER

ACCLAIMED ACTRESS TO APPEAR IN 10 EPISODES OF SEASON FIVE OF SHOWTIME’S EMMY® NOMINATED DRAMA SERIES DEXTER

LOS ANGELES, CA June 7, 2010 – Acclaimed actress Julia Stiles has joined the cast of SHOWTIME’s Emmy nominated drama series DEXTER.  Stiles, who will appear in ten episodes in the upcoming fifth season, will play a mysterious young woman who forms a unique relationship with Dexter (Michael C. Hall) in the wake of the death of his wife.  Production on season five begins this month and will premiere in the fall on SHOWTIME.

Called “one of the most fearless and talented actresses in Hollywood” by the Los Angeles Times, Julia Stiles has starred in three Shakespearean film adaptations: HAMLET, O, and TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, for which she earned a 2000 MTV Movie Award for Best Female Breakthrough Performance and the Chicago Film Critics Award for Most Promising Actress. Other feature film credits include, THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS, opposite Stockard Channing, SAVE THE LAST DANCE, for which she was nominated for two MTV Movie Awards, and David Mamet’s STATE & MAIN.  She starred opposite Liev Schreiber in THE OMEN, opposite Julia Roberts in MONA LISA SMILE and opposite Matt Damon in the Bourne trilogy: THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY and THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM.

One of the most acclaimed series on television, DEXTER stars Michael C. Hall (Golden Globe® and SAG Award winner) as a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer.  The show has received both multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe® nomination for best television drama series as well as a prestigious Peabody Award in 2008 and was twice named one of AFI’s top ten television series.  The show also stars Jennifer Carpenter, Desmond Harrington, C.S. Lee, Lauren Vélez, David Zayas, and James Remar.