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ALREADY
one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year,
Walt Disney Pictures’ Enchanted is a romantic
comedy that tells the story of Giselle, a fairy-tale
princess who is thrown down a wishing well by her evil
stepmother. When she emerges in present-day New York,
Giselle soon discovers that the course of true love
rarely runs as smoothly as it does in the world of
make-believe.
An
inspired blend of live-action moviemaking and
traditional 2D animation in the classic Disney style,
the film stars Amy Adams (Oscar-nominated for 2005’s
Junebug) as the innocent Giselle and Susan Sarandon
as the evil Queen Narissa, who pursues her to New York.
James Marsden (Cyclops in the blockbuster X-Men
movies) plays a square-jawed cartoon prince, but it’s
Patrick Dempsey, cast as a divorce attorney, who may
just turn out to be Giselle’s real Prince Charming.
 Dempsey,
now 41, once seemed destined to end his career as a
tricky answer to a Trivial Pursuit question. A rising
star in the ’80s, thanks to such films as Can’t Buy
Me Love, his career grew cobwebs in the ’90s. Yet,
since his winning supporting turn in 2002’s Reese
Witherspoon-starrer Sweet Home Alabama,
Dempsey has become one of the most notable comebacks of
recent years in the television juggernaut Grey’s
Anatomy, which is now in its fourth season and in
which he plays Dr. Derek Shepherd, better known to his
fictional coworkers and offscreen fans as Dr. McDreamy.
Nabbing
Dempsey for a film in one of his brief hiatuses from the
hit drama was something of a coup for Disney and,
according to Enchanted director Kevin Lima,
filming in New York was frequently interrupted by
Dempsey’s ardent fans. “People would suddenly start
screaming and chanting ‘McDreamy!’ in the middle of a
scene,” recalls Lima. “It’s like Patrick’s a Beatle.”
Dempsey
himself regards his renewed star status with a mix of
amusement and gratitude. “You’re lucky to be in a hit
one time around, let alone twice,” he says during a
break in filming another new film, “and this time I’m
better prepared.” Here, the genial actor talks about
having his own action figure, why he’s glad he left the
singing to the rest of the cast of Enchanted, and
what it feels like to be a contender for the title of
Sexiest Man Alive. (He finished second to Matt Damon for
the 2007 honors; Enchanted is now in theaters
everywhere around these parts—Ed.)
You play
a lawyer in Enchanted and Giselle is a fairy-tale
princess in search of true love. So opposites obviously
attract?
It’s
worse than that. My character is a divorce lawyer and
he’s a very cynical guy. He’s also a single man who is
raising a child on his own. So the prospects don’t seem
very good, but he sort of takes her under his wing when
he finds her adrift in and they end up falling in love.
I don’t know whether I should give that away, but, hey,
it’s a Disney movie, so of course they’re going to fall
in love.
The film
seems to have a pretty original concept. Was that one of
the things that appealed to you about it?
Yes,
that’s one of the main reasons I did it. There are so
few original stories being made, everything is a remake
or a sequel, and this isn’t reinventing the wheel, but
it’s fresh and it’s different and I think the audience
that watches me in Grey’s will want to see me in
this. It’s also a big, major movie, almost three
different movies in one. There’s the romantic comedy
aspect of it, then there’s the musical stuff with all
these great songs, the animation and some big action
elements, including a dragon on the loose in
New York.
Actually, I guess that’s four elements [laughs].
The
phrase “romantic comedy” strikes fear into the hearts of
red-blooded men everywhere. Does Enchanted have anything
for men?
It’s
really well-executed, and I think it sort of turns the
romantic comedy and musical genres on their head. In
fact, guys who have seen it at test screenings come up
to me afterward and tell me how much they like it, sort
of contrary to their expectations.
Grey’s
Anatomy is a big hit around the world. Does success on
television immediately translate to films?
That’s
an interesting question and it depends what you mean
exactly. My options are certainly better than they were
a couple of years ago [laughs] and, yes, when you’re in
a hit show, you get a chance to go and do a couple of
movies. After that, it depends if people go and see them
and they make money as to whether you get more chances.
So I have Enchanted coming out and right now I’m doing
Made of Honor, which is also a romantic comedy,
but more in the vein of Notting Hill, a little
more mature. After that, I think my next choice is
crucial. And given the way my career has gone, you
realize how quickly it can go away. You can be very
successful one year and the next year you do a couple of
duds and you’re done, people forget about you and
someone else comes along. Knowing that kind of keeps you
grounded.
How did
you cope with the ups and downs of your career after
your initial success?
I’ve
always been a working actor and that’s all I’ve ever
wanted to be, and careers ebb and flow, but I had to
audition for everything. I had to screen test for a part
in
Sweet Home
Alabama and Scream 3. And they didn’t want to go with me on
Grey’s. They wanted Rob Lowe and he turned it
down. So I had to go in and screen test for that, too,
and it was frustrating. There had been years and years
of auditioning and not getting anything, and the amount
of work it takes mentally to get yourself prepped to not
go into a room with any baggage, it’s exhausting.
Do you
have a different attitude to success the second time
around?
Yes, you
look at it seriously, at the business options, the
creative options. It’s also a grind and I haven’t
stopped working in three years because I know this is a
window of opportunity and I have to make smart choices.
Also, I don’t want to take the opportunities for
granted. You may come on the set and be exhausted, but
you want to stay focused and do the best you can and
appreciate what you have. I think losing that sense of
appreciation is what gets you into trouble and it’s when
you make the mistakes. I’m really grateful for the
success I am having right now.
Talking
of success, you have your own action figure for
Enchanted, don’t you? You’ve obviously arrived when
you have your own action figure.
Yes, I
finally have my first action figure, though he’s in a
trench coat, which is kind of strange. I had to approve
it, too, so I got to improve my looks. A stronger chin,
a straighter nose, better hair....
But
that’s one of the things that always get written about:
your perfect hair. What’s to improve?
I have a
bunch of people who work on my hair and makeup and keep
me together [laughs]. I mean, you can’t buy into that
stuff. A lot of it is the image projected by the
writers, by the nature of the character you’re playing;
it’s not who you really are and you can’t live up to
that. I mean, there are days you show up with spinach in
your teeth just like everyone else.
According to the magazines, though, you’re still one of
the sexiest men alive…
[Laughs]
It’s amazing to me that anyone would think that. Anyway,
someone just told me that a French magazine listed me at
No. 13 on the sexy list, so I’ve decided I’d better
start working on my ranking and see if I can make it
into the Top 10. (He has...in People magazine’s “sexiest
alive” list no less—Ed.) |
