TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
10 Questions With Patrick Dempsey
Hordes of adoring female fans, a hit TV show, the lead in a big summer movie and perfect hair to boot -- yep, it's just another day in the life of Patrick Dempsey, <a href="http://television.aol.com/show/greys-anatomy/426427/main" target="_blank">'Grey's Anatomy's'</a> resident heartthrob and the star of the romantic comedy <a href="http://movies.aol.com/movie/made-of-honor/28433/main" target="_blank">'Made of Honor.'</a> In an exclusive Q&A, TV's most immaculately hair-gelled doc gets candid about Derek and Meredith's future on 'Grey's,' the allure of becoming a clown and the secret to that McDreamy 'do. -- By Tom DiChiara
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>1. How do you feel about <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/shonda-rhimes/305254" target="_blank">Shonda Rhimes'</a> plan to get Meredith and Derek back together for good by the end of this season?</b> It's good. I have like a rainbow color of pages in front of me that I'm trying to put together in my script, and I just got to the final scene. And it's a beautiful scene where we get back together. It's really quite something. It's unexpected, I think, the way it plays itself out. It kind of gets back to the essence of what made this show so great.
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>2. Do you think this season has been a little too dark?</b> I think it's just part of the evolution of a show on television. When you're successful, there's such a demand to have more and more shows. And it doesn't necessarily allow the writers or the actors to have time to regroup. I think the strike has been a great thing for <ahref="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/shonda-rhimes/305254" target="_blank">Shonda Rhimes</a> and for the other writers and for all the actors.
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>3. Where do you want to see <a href="http://television.aol.com/show/greys-anatomy/426427/main" target="_blank">'Grey's'</a> going next season?</b> I hope we just keep entertaining people. I think that's the key here. And hopefully, we don't get stuck in a rut and we don't repeat ourselves. I just want the show to keep moving forward and hopefully stay fresh.
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>4. Is it true that as a teenager you wanted to be a professional clown?</b> Yeah, I started off as a juggler. I had my own one-man show that I used to travel around the state of Maine doing. I had tried to get into Ringling Bros. ... [which] was the one place that you could go to work. That would have been a fun thing to do when you were young, travel around the world with a circus.
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>5. You've been a heartthrob both in the '80s and now. Are the female fans crazier today than they were back then?</b> I think more so now. I think it's the power of the character I play on TV. I think it has a lot to do with <a href="http://television.aol.com/celebrity/shonda-rhimes/305254" target="_blank">Shonda Rhimes</a> and who she's created with that character. I've been fortunate enough to be in his shoes and play him, and I think people project that image onto me. I realize that it's not me. And I enjoy the opportunities it's allowing me to have. I'm very thankful to be working [laughs].
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>6. Would you ever consider doing a cameo on another TV show?</b> Oh, not at this point, but there are a lot of great shows on that I watch. It think <a href="http://television.aol.com/show/entourage/99659/main" target="_blank">'Entourage'</a> is a good show, <a href="http://television.aol.com/show/nip-tuck/334756/main" target="_blank">'Nip/Tuck'</a> is a good show, <a href="http://television.aol.com/show/big-love/762053/main" target="_blank">'Big Love'</a> is another show that I like, <a href="http://television.aol.com/show/weeds/706490/main" target="_blank">'Weeds'</a> is a good show. I don't watch a lot of television. I watch more sports on Speed Channel.
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>7. You're big into racing cars. How'd you get hooked?</b> I've always loved it, since I was a kid. I just got a two-day competition certificate from my wife and got involved that way. There's a lot of great programs and schools out there where you can just sort of step your way up. And I just got more and more into it. I ran the Daytona 24 Hours this year, which was a goal.
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>8. As for <a href="http://movies.aol.com/movie/made-of-honor/28433/main" target="_blank">'Made of Honor,'</a> were you wary that it would be perceived as too similar to <a href="http://movies.aol.com/movie/my-best-friends-wedding/4123/main" target="_blank">'My Best Friend's Wedding'</a>?</b> Oh sure. I think it's very hard to do any romantic comedy without it being compared to something else, so what you want to try to do is make it your own and keep it as fresh as possible. Because you know you're going to get those comparisons until people see it, and then they're going to go, "Oh, you know what? It's different. It's a different experience."
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>9. For one scene in the film, you had to wear a mini-kilt. Did you follow Scottish tradition and "go commando"?</b> [Laughs] For a short time. I tried it out and I realized that this is not the kilt I want to be doing that in. Yeah, I didn't need to show <i>that</i>.
10 Questions With: <A HREF='http://television.aol.com/celebrity/patrick-dempsey/18549' target='_blank'><FONT COLOR='#2864B4'>Patrick Dempsey</font></a>
<b>10. What exactly do you put in your hair to make it look so cool?</b> Oh my goodness, that's the million-dollar question. Until I create my own line, I'm going to keep that top-secret [laughs]. There's so much stuff, it's unbelievable. There are so many different products that are sent to me, and I try everything.
