Patrick Dempsey
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Yesterday, we brought you Patrick Dempsey's Details interview. Today, we found another feature of Dr. McDreamy in Life Magazine.

We posted a sneak preview of the interview earlier in the week, but the unabridged version gives us even greater insight into the man we love - and even includes a separate, mini- interview with his wife, Jillian. Here's the interview, with more pictures after the jump:

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For years, when Patrick Dempsey auditioned for roles, he was greeted with that special yawn Hollywood reserves for onetime gangly teen stars stymied by the leap into adulthood. The decade-long rough patch nearly damaged the actor's confidence.

"I was getting to a breaking point," says Dempsey, 41. "It was demoralizing."

That difficult period informs and deepens Dempsey's oddly vulnerable Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, making him more than just another soulful TV surgeon with awesome hair.

In a revealing talk, Dempsey, who recently received a Golden Globe nomination for the show, addressed everything from his rocky return to stardom to why someday â€" with his wife, Jillian, his 4-year-old daughter, Tallulah; and his soon-to-be twin sons beside him - he may just walk away from it all.

LIFE: In your new movie, Freedom Writers, you're the husband of a public-school teacher â€" played by Hilary Swank â€" who works with challenged teens.
DEMPSEY: I needed to be part of that movie. When I read the script, I was like, "I have to do this."

LIFE: Why did it hold such appeal for you?
DEMPSEY: Because of what's going on with this country's educational system. People are attacking one another for different reasons â€" whether it's because of religion or ethnicity. It's sort of a microcosm of our reality.

LIFE: What was your own experience in the public-school system?
DEMPSEY: I wasn't diagnosed with dyslexia until I was 12. I wish I had been diagnosed earlier on. I would have had better tools. It's almost like the kids in the movie: If your journey is not like everyone else's and doesn't fit the "norm," then you feel like you're less than [the other students]. My learning style did not fit [into the school's].

LIFE: How do you think this affected you?
DEMPSEY: I didn't really start my education until I dropped out of high school. Because of acting, I had to learn to work through my reading issues. I had private coaching. If I couldn't read a line, I had someone tell it to me. Once I had it, I could run with it. I still do that. . . . What I don't like about Grey's Anatomy is they never give you the script until the last minute. I fight those anxieties every time I sit down for a table read-through. So I'm not completely over it.

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On the cover and with an extensive interview, this month's edition of Details showcases Dr. McDreamy himself, Patrick Dempsey. It shows a side of him we rarely see - but that we definitely like. Here's the full interview with the leading man of Grey's Anatomy, with more pictures after the jump:

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Patrick Dempsey is somewhere behind the hedges, waiting in the late-afternoon emptiness of the garden at the Chateau Marmont. Sitting slouched at a table, wearing black boots, dark jeans, and a brown plaid button-down shirt, the Grey's Anatomy star wearily yes-yeses into his PDA and then disconnects with an apologetic smile.

He looks whipped. He's pale.

There are dark circles under his green eyes. Even his Prince Charming mane â€" which he claims has a life of its own â€" looks tired.

"Isn't it great back here?" asks the actor, surveying his sparsely populated surroundings. "I like to be alone a lot. I like my privacy. The older I get, the more I want to be around fewer and fewer people."

The waiter, a young Jeff Goldblum look-alike, glides over with the wine list. He recommends a red, returns, and pours a taste. Dempsey sips and makes an ew face. "You taste it," he urges. The wine is suggestive of something used to sterilize surgical instruments. "It's kind of harsh," Dempsey says. "It finishes tangy. With a heavy wine you really need to decant."

Little Goldblum hurries back with a decanter. "It probably needs to breathe for an hour," Dempsey says. "It needs to open up."

Yesterday the actor drove the first leg of the Baja 1000, a legendary off-road race that rumbles across Mexico every November. When he returned to L.A. via helicopter this morning, he left his Hypersport team in the lead. "I'm still waiting for the car to come in," he says, eyeing his BlackBerry.

"Today we were running third, and then we had a big pileup. So I don't know if we'll finish third or fourth or where."

The PDA rings. "This could be good," he says excitedly. "How are we? Where are we? Did we cross the finish line? What mile marker are we? Call me when they cross the finish line."

"I'd be down there right now if I didn't have to come back to do Oprah today," he says as he hangs up. "No offense to Oprah. Racing is something I really need in my life right now. The excitement of it calms me down, oddly enough. You're in the car and you're alone. It's a complete escape from everything."

It's hard to imagine why an actor who spent most of his late twenties and thirties â€" his prime, really â€" languishing in oblivion would want to escape from a hugely popular TV show (for which he scored a Golden Globe nomination for the second straight year) and a subsequent flurry of film offers (he's starring in the upcoming family fairy tale Enchanted and playing Hilary Swank's husband in the Dangerous Minds-like Freedom Writers).

But Dempsey, 41, is growing tired of playing doctor â€" even though he's got three more seasons left in his six-year contract.

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He may have captured and broken multiple hearts as Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy, but one of show's handsome stars, Patrick Dempsey, has a steady domestic life.

"Fatherhood is the most important thing. Everything else is a joke," he tells Life magazine in its new issue, which features him on the cover.

Dempsey says his priority in life is being at home with his wife, Jillian Dempsey, a makeup artist and stylist, and the couple's 4-year-old daughter, Tallulah.

They are also expecting twin sons this winter.

"Now, making money is about providing for my children. And being a father makes you look at yourself," the 41-year-old said.

"You look at your marriage and go, 'How do I improve this? How do I keep growing and create a stable environment for my children?'"

One way, he reveals, is to go to couples therapy.

"Yeah, we go in for checkups and go 'Hey, here's what we need to work on,'" he says. "We've had a very good relationship from the beginning, but you run into things you have to work through."

He also adds that therapy, while it often scares couples away, is a lot easier than fighting with someone.

There are also some remedies that he delivers at home.

"Reading to my daughter has been therapeutic," says Dempsey, who has fought a lifelong battle with dyslexia.

"I've gone back and started to learn to read on a very basic level. I'm reading Dr. Seuss, and I'm healing that part of myself, as well as developing my daughter."

It's so nice to see that the Grey's Anatomy star is not only great looking, talented and fun to watch on screen, but a good role model in real life.

Patrick Dempsey was presented with baby scrubs for his soon-to-be-born twin boys during a taping of the Ellen DeGeneres Show, which aired Wednesday.

As a tribute to Dempsey's Shepherd character on Grey's Anatomy, Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd, the tiny blue outfits were inscribed with the words "McCutie" and "McCudlie." Aww.

We're pleased to announce that Grey's Anatomy took home some hardware last night as a double winner at the People's Choice Awards.

Our favorite show who the award for favorite TV drama, and leading man Patrick Dempsey took home the honors for favorite male TV star.

"Thank you for a second chance!" Dempsey told the crowd. "I'm very fortunate to be part of a great ensemble."

To the show's creator, Shonda Rhimes, he said:

"Thank you for creating Dr. McDreamy, it's changed my life."

Hopefully, this is just the beginning of an awards-packed month for the cast. The Golden Globe Awards are slated for January 15, and the Screen Actors Guild honors will be handed out January 28.

Congratulations to Patrick, and the entire cast of Grey's Anatomy. We'll look around for some photos from the awards to post later in the day.

Attention, McDreamy fans (of which there are many): The Insider has learned that Grey's Anatomy leading man Patrick Dempsey will be paying a visit to the Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 10 (which is tomorrow)! That's 11:00 a.m. EST, and 10:00 for those of you in the Central Time Zone. 

Hey, you can never be too careful when it comes to bicycle safety. That's why devoted dad Patrick Dempsey was spotted treating his daughter, Tallulah, to a new bike helmet Friday.

Kids are cute, and this one is certainly no exception! The five-year-old is about to a big sister, too. Patrick's wife, Jillian, is going to give birth to twin boys - she's due in late January / early February! It's always nice to see the leading man of Grey's Anatomy - and his happy family - out and about.

Grey's Anatomy leading man Patrick Dempsey was seen last night at the L.A. premiere of his new movie, Freedom Writers. With Patrick in this picture is the movie's star, two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank.

Grey's Anatomy stars Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey are both featured in People Magazine's profiles of Golden Globe nominees. The awards, which will be announced January 15, feature a number of talented Grey's Anatomy stars - plus the show itself. Here are a couple of pictures and what the publication has to say about both these cuties.

ELLEN POMPEO

Nomination: Best dramatic TV actress for Grey's Anatomy
Despite the success of her ABC drama, the Boston-area native says that her long hours on the show helps her relate to her character, Dr. Meredith Grey. "I get a lot less sleep, but it helps, I think, it helps us feel like interns because we really are exhausted," Pompeo told ABC News.
Next Up: No scrubs allowed: Pompeo, who got engaged on her 37th birthday in November to record producer Chris Ivery, has a wedding to plan.

PATRICK DEMPSEY

Nomination: Best dramatic TV actor for Grey's Anatomy
The former '80s teen star spent much of the last decade doing TV guest spots before taking up permanent residency on the hit hospital drama. Now making hearts swoon as Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd, the two-time nominee told People about his sex-symbol status: "This is so funny. I'm a hunky guy now. How did that happen?"
Next Up: Dempsey returns to the big screen opposite Hilary Swank in the drama Freedom Writers, out in January.

According to Variety, Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey has signed a deal to star as the lead in Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy Made of Honor, being produced by Neal Moritz's Original Film.

A director has not yet been hired for the project. The film is a male-driven romantic comedy about a guy (Patrick Dempsey) whose dream girl asks unexpectedly him to be her maid of honor. In an attempt to win her heart, he agrees.

You have to love guys getting stuck in the "friend" mode? Sounds as if this character does what any male would do in that situation - accept in hopes that he can use the time leading up to the wedding to get close to her and win her over. Makes for a funny movie, we're guessing.

Made of Honor is based on a speculative script by Adam Sztykiel and was given the green light after a rewrite by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont.

Dempsey's other upcoming films include Freedom Writers, alongside Hilary Swank, and Enchanted, a family fantasy musical with Amy Adams and James Marsden. We are certainly looking forward to seeing one of the wonderful leading men of Grey's Anatomy on the big screen!