Post by marcy on Dec 2, 2008 17:13:16 GMT -5
9 Questions With: Patrick Dempsey
That hair ... those eyes. Let's face it, there's plenty to love about the man they (and okay, we) call McDreamy. 'Grey's Anatomy' star Patrick Dempsey, a Golden Globe winner for his role as Derek Shepherd, Seattle Grace's sexiest doc, recently topped AOL TV's list of the 50 Hunkiest Stars in TV history.
The actor/husband/father/race car driver talked to AOL TV about everything from his hunk status and his tube relationship with fellow doc Meredith Grey to his new Avon cologne and the very special cancer center he and his family have helped launch in his Maine hometown. -- By Kimberly Potts
1. Congratulations, Patrick, you're No. 1 on AOL TV's list of the 50 Hunkiest TV Stars of all time. Are these kinds of things still flattering for someone whose character is nicknamed "McDreamy"? y"?
Well, there's always going to be somebody else who's going to come along and be the next handsome person. It's so subjective. And there are also a lot of people out there who aren't being recognized ... maybe just because they're not on a hit show or something. So you have to kind of take it all with a grain of salt. It's certainly great having the attention ... it's always good for one's ego, but at the end of day, it really is quite an empty statement if you don't have family around you. Because there is no way you can live up to it.
2. You've played Derek for several seasons, so you must be invested in wanting to see him happy. Does it feel good to finally have Meredith and him in a happy place right now?
It does. I think what you really want, as an actor, is the characters to be moving forward. Because of the nature of television ... everything moves so slowly, you have to really step back and look at the characters in relation to everybody else's characters and to their movement ... I don't have control over this, but if I did, I would definitely have them moving in a realistic manner, and hopefully moving forward in an adult fashion. That would be ideal.
[glow=red,2,300]3. There's a new guy in the mix this season with Kevin McKidd's Owen Hunt. Will we see another trip for the guys to bond now that there's a newbie?
[Laughs] That would be nice. I think there's a lot to explore with this character, and he's a nice addition to the show. His relationship with Cristina is really interesting. And there's something to be said for a character who's just coming back from the war. I think there's a lot to explore there, and hopefully they'll get into that a lot more deeply.
4. Did you have anything to do with him being cast after having worked with him in 'Made of Honor'?
Quite honestly, I didn't know he was even coming on the show until he was there one day on the set. Everything on this show is sort of cloaked in mystery. But it was fantastic. I couldn't believe it.[/glow]
5. What kind of shows do you watch on TV? What are your favorites?
Sports, mostly. I really love 'Entourage.' 'Weeds' is another great show. Um, what else am I watching ... oh, 'The Daily Show,' and a lot of news programs.
6. Any chance we might see you pop up in an 'Entourage' cameo?
Oh, that would be fun; I would love to do that show. It's very smart and well written.
7. Your new Avon cologne is launching this month, right? How involved were you with creating it?
Yeah, Unscripted it's called. It was a great collaboration with Avon, and my wife, who has a line with them. I brought in ideas of what I liked and where I wanted to go and sort of the concept, and we really all worked well together on it. I wanted something that was really fresh and clean and also had sort of a unisex smell to it. And the response has been very positive, which is great, because we invested a lot of time and energy and passion into doing it, from the scent all the way through to the packaging and the ad campaign.
8. Avon also gave you a grant for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Maine, right? And there's a story behind the center that's very personal for you?
Yes, definitely. Avon gave us a grant for $500,000 for the Center, and that's going to enable us to really reach out into the community and get some early testing done for breast cancer, and also just to help people that are going through that. And it all came about ... my mother has had about five bouts with ovarian cancer. And there was no wellness community to help people that were going through that. There are individual [places] for specific kinds of cancer, like ovarian cancer or breast cancer, but there was nothing under one roof that takes care of everybody. And what we want to be is a place where, if you call, you're not just talking to a computer ... we have someone who will help you through your case. And we're trying to understand what the needs are of the community ... that people who have survived cancer come out the other side, and then there's that transition period of having to get back to reality, back to life and the worries of "will it come back again?"
9. And the Center is located in your hometown?
Yes, at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine. It's probably been the greatest thing that I've ever been a part of. My sister is working there, too. The support of the hospital and the communities has been absolutely unbelievable, and I am really proud of where I come from. And it's nice to use one's celebrity to get something good for other people. It becomes much more than just yourself, and the energy of what that is is really quite humbling. I think that's the best thing about celebrity, that you can use it for something that is positive.
That hair ... those eyes. Let's face it, there's plenty to love about the man they (and okay, we) call McDreamy. 'Grey's Anatomy' star Patrick Dempsey, a Golden Globe winner for his role as Derek Shepherd, Seattle Grace's sexiest doc, recently topped AOL TV's list of the 50 Hunkiest Stars in TV history.
The actor/husband/father/race car driver talked to AOL TV about everything from his hunk status and his tube relationship with fellow doc Meredith Grey to his new Avon cologne and the very special cancer center he and his family have helped launch in his Maine hometown. -- By Kimberly Potts
1. Congratulations, Patrick, you're No. 1 on AOL TV's list of the 50 Hunkiest TV Stars of all time. Are these kinds of things still flattering for someone whose character is nicknamed "McDreamy"? y"?
Well, there's always going to be somebody else who's going to come along and be the next handsome person. It's so subjective. And there are also a lot of people out there who aren't being recognized ... maybe just because they're not on a hit show or something. So you have to kind of take it all with a grain of salt. It's certainly great having the attention ... it's always good for one's ego, but at the end of day, it really is quite an empty statement if you don't have family around you. Because there is no way you can live up to it.
2. You've played Derek for several seasons, so you must be invested in wanting to see him happy. Does it feel good to finally have Meredith and him in a happy place right now?
It does. I think what you really want, as an actor, is the characters to be moving forward. Because of the nature of television ... everything moves so slowly, you have to really step back and look at the characters in relation to everybody else's characters and to their movement ... I don't have control over this, but if I did, I would definitely have them moving in a realistic manner, and hopefully moving forward in an adult fashion. That would be ideal.
[glow=red,2,300]3. There's a new guy in the mix this season with Kevin McKidd's Owen Hunt. Will we see another trip for the guys to bond now that there's a newbie?
[Laughs] That would be nice. I think there's a lot to explore with this character, and he's a nice addition to the show. His relationship with Cristina is really interesting. And there's something to be said for a character who's just coming back from the war. I think there's a lot to explore there, and hopefully they'll get into that a lot more deeply.
4. Did you have anything to do with him being cast after having worked with him in 'Made of Honor'?
Quite honestly, I didn't know he was even coming on the show until he was there one day on the set. Everything on this show is sort of cloaked in mystery. But it was fantastic. I couldn't believe it.[/glow]
5. What kind of shows do you watch on TV? What are your favorites?
Sports, mostly. I really love 'Entourage.' 'Weeds' is another great show. Um, what else am I watching ... oh, 'The Daily Show,' and a lot of news programs.
6. Any chance we might see you pop up in an 'Entourage' cameo?
Oh, that would be fun; I would love to do that show. It's very smart and well written.
7. Your new Avon cologne is launching this month, right? How involved were you with creating it?
Yeah, Unscripted it's called. It was a great collaboration with Avon, and my wife, who has a line with them. I brought in ideas of what I liked and where I wanted to go and sort of the concept, and we really all worked well together on it. I wanted something that was really fresh and clean and also had sort of a unisex smell to it. And the response has been very positive, which is great, because we invested a lot of time and energy and passion into doing it, from the scent all the way through to the packaging and the ad campaign.
8. Avon also gave you a grant for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Maine, right? And there's a story behind the center that's very personal for you?
Yes, definitely. Avon gave us a grant for $500,000 for the Center, and that's going to enable us to really reach out into the community and get some early testing done for breast cancer, and also just to help people that are going through that. And it all came about ... my mother has had about five bouts with ovarian cancer. And there was no wellness community to help people that were going through that. There are individual [places] for specific kinds of cancer, like ovarian cancer or breast cancer, but there was nothing under one roof that takes care of everybody. And what we want to be is a place where, if you call, you're not just talking to a computer ... we have someone who will help you through your case. And we're trying to understand what the needs are of the community ... that people who have survived cancer come out the other side, and then there's that transition period of having to get back to reality, back to life and the worries of "will it come back again?"
9. And the Center is located in your hometown?
Yes, at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine. It's probably been the greatest thing that I've ever been a part of. My sister is working there, too. The support of the hospital and the communities has been absolutely unbelievable, and I am really proud of where I come from. And it's nice to use one's celebrity to get something good for other people. It becomes much more than just yourself, and the energy of what that is is really quite humbling. I think that's the best thing about celebrity, that you can use it for something that is positive.