(Conclusion)
LOS ANGELES - I’m more than just Mcdreamy in the romantic comedies,” Patrick Dempsey said at one point in this part two of our recent press con with him. Indeed, the man who stars in “Made of Honor” is multifaceted. He zooms his race car on some of the world’s top racetracks, bikes around LA (he pedaled his way to the interview location), juggles (he was a junior division champ), freely admits his dyslexia to inspire others with the condition and funds a center to provide education and support programs to help cancer patients and their families. The latter was inspired by the actor’s mom, Amanda Dempsey, who battled ovarian cancer.
Married twice
The movie’s wedding theme prompted another writer to preface her question with “Since you were married twice…” He teased, “Thank you for bringing that one up. I never seem to escape that one.”
“I eloped the first time,” he said. “It was kind of strange. The second time, we had a very nice, quiet and small wedding in the country in Maine. I like that. That’s the way to do it—not a big one.”
Of his first marriage to Rocky Parker (actor Corey Parker’s mother) which ended in a divorce in 1994, he acknowledged the May-December element. “There was a tremendous gap between our ages,” he said and added, “I am not telling you. It was educational.” Rocky was 48; he was 21.
Happily married to Jillian since 1999, Patrick confirmed, “Yeah, I don’t go out much. I spend most of my time at home because I would rather be there with my family.” The Dempseys have three kids—Talula, 6; and twin boys, Darby and Sullivan, 1.
One of the things Patrick likes to do when he does go out is bike or race his Mazda RX-8 on the track. “I finally got to race at Daytona this year which was a great experience,” said the race-car team co-owner. “That was humbling because I hit the pit wall right away with the whole world watching. I didn’t hit up the car too bad. It was just ego burn. Next, I really want to go to Le Mans. That’s the goal.”
He explained why he enjoys the sport: “There’s a lot of stuff that I haven’t had an opportunity to do. I’m more than just McDreamy in the romantic comedies. So I love the challenges in racing. It’s humbling and constantly beats me up. I have to keep my ego out of the way to improve and to go faster. It’s such a great escape from Hollywood. I’m just left alone and treated as a racer.”
Pedal pushing
“There’s the Versace Lamborghini that I got to drive around,” he says of one of the perks of being Donatella’s model. “That was fun. I really like that car.”
As for his other love—bicycling—the pleasure he derives from it was evident as he beamed even when he was just describing a routine: “I put on my suit, helmet and glasses and off I go.” Do folks somehow recognize him even in that get-up? “Some people do,” he said. “It’s funny to see the reactions.”
On the much-bruited about movie being developed about Lance Armstrong, Patrick said he was not in the running to play the cycling champ. “I wouldn’t be right for Armstrong,” he conceded. “But I would love to be in a cycling movie.”
With his second success as a movie star (he had a string of hit films in the ’80s), is he going to quit “Grey’s Anatomy”? “I cannot forget the opportunities that the show has given me,” he replied. “It has certainly allowed me to sit here at this table now and land other roles like ‘Enchanted.’ People make the mistake of trying to leave a TV show too soon. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you. The only thing that we have to concern ourselves with is that the stories have to stay fresh and we’ll be with the show as long as we’re on the air.”
Patrick’s career is often mentioned as resembling that of George Clooney’s— from a medical drama series to a movie star. “Yes, that sort of thing,” he confirmed about the kind of career he would like to maintain. “I hope I have the success George has.”
He expressed his realistic goal: “When anybody starts off, you always close your eyes and see yourself on a podium accepting an award and making a speech. Everybody does that. Then there’s the reality of life and the reality of a career. I’ve always wanted to be a working actor and I’ve done that so I feel very good about it. Being where I am now, I really am not satisfied. I want to go further and I want to work harder.”
Expert juggler
As if men weren’t already envious of Patrick with his looks, swooning female fans, top-of-the-line bikes and fast cars, he revealed another talent in “Made of Honor”—the guy is an expert juggler. “I used to practice three or four hours every night when I was a kid,” bared Patrick, who won awards in juggling contests as an adolescent. “It was all I wanted to do. But now, I don’t really do it as much. Occasionally, I’ll do it but not so much. I’ve moved on.”
He admitted that he applied to a clown school but was not accepted. “I was too young,” said Patrick, who toured with a vaudeville show when he was 15. “I think you had to be 18. I was 16 when I sent the form. I thought I wanted to do magic, slapstick and vaudeville and all that stuff. This was prior to Cirque du Soleil coming in, before they revamped the concept of circuses as we know it. A lot of the people that I had trained with and went to workshops with are all clowns who went through the Ringling Brothers. It would have been an interesting direction in my career had I done that.”
Diagnosed with dyslexia when he was a teenager, Patrick does not shy away from talking about the topic of learning disability. “I haven’t really gone out and helped any children with the condition other than saying that I am dyslexic,” he said. “I talk about it. I have that issue but it doesn’t hold me back. You can achieve anything you want to achieve as long as you work hard and don’t give up.”
“The condition is diagnosed earlier now,” he continued. “A lot of techniques are really helping kids with dyslexia. For me, I never excelled in school. I didn’t read. I didn’t write and still don’t do much of those now. For a long time, it really wore on me. I didn’t feel smart enough and that type of thing. I’ve learned since how to deal with that—to learn, read and do my things. I developed my own technique of learning. There are now so many better ways of detecting the condition early. I watch my kids if that comes up.”
Another interesting aspect about Patrick is his commitment to cancer research and programs in response to his mother’s bouts with ovarian cancer. “We opened the Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Maine—where I grew up—in the hospital that treated my mother. My sister works there and runs that foundation. Avon has been very good to us and given us some donations to help expand things. Our goal is to make the best and most helpful website for cancer cure and prevention information in the world.”
Responding to a question about the craziest rumor he has heard about him lately, Patrick, whose McDreamy face was plastered in huge posters and billboards all over LA at the time of this interview, smiled and said, “Something came out that said I was standing in front of my (‘Made of Honor’) poster and looking at myself. I didn’t do that.” He joked, “But I will now look at my face in those posters as I bike home in my bicycle tights.”
E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.
