Patrick Dempsey Has Come a Long Way

Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey and his wife Jillian are featured in this week's Life Magazine. The couple are expecting twin boys this winter and are parents to five-year-old Talula.




Here's an excerpt from the interview:

LIFE: Does education worry you, as a parent?DEMPSEY: It concerns me now with my children. How do I develop them and their learning styles? Reading to my daughter has been therapeutic. 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.

LIFE: In what ways has fatherhood changed you?DEMPSEY: Now making money is about providing for my children. And being a father makes you look at yourself. 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?"

LIFE: So how do you and Jillian work on your relationship? Are you in couples’ therapy?
DEMPSEY: Yeah, we go in for checkups and go "Hey, here’s what we need to work on." We’ve had a very good relationship from the beginning [the Dempseys have been married since 1999], but you run into things you have to work through. And [therapy] is easier than fighting with someone.

LIFE: You went through a 10-year period when it was difficult for you to get work.
DEMPSEY: My agents would say “You have to go in and read for this part.” And I’d say “You have no idea what it takes for me to go in there positive. It takes me two days to get psyched up for it.”

LIFE: Luckily, you and Ellen Pompeo must have had great chemistry during your audition.
DEMPSEY: They didn’t offer me the part. I got it because Rob Lowe turned it down. But first I had to test with her, so she had all the cards. She was very attentive during my audition, and I felt . . . welcomed. Also, she had a Boston accent, and I’m from Maine. I found that endearing.



Life also took time to talk with Patrick's wife Jillian about life with Patrick as a dad and husband.

LIFE: What kind of father is Patrick?
JILLIAN DEMPSEY: He’s very hands-on. He’s the first to admit he prefers the more interactive stage of children versus newborns. The newborn phase is difficult for fathers—they don’t feel the connection because babies are all about breast-feeding.

LIFE: What’s he like with your daughter?
JD: He’s the doting daddy. As a family, we just love to talk to one another. And with little people, you never know what’s going to come out of their mouths. Sometimes it’s so creative, we crack up.

LIFE: Does McDreamy do diapers?JD: Of course!

LIFE: But will he be up in the middle of the night, rocking a pair of squalling infants? JD: Get back to me in a few months, and I’ll let you know. He has long, demanding hours, but he’s not the type of person who would leave me stranded.

LIFE: What kind of husband is he?
JD: He’s a romantic. If he wants to say "I love you," he’ll say it in front of people—even if they’ll make fun of him. He doesn’t care.

LIFE: Does he give romantic gifts?
JD: He’s very generous with present-giving. He loves to shop for Fred Leighton jewelry. It’s not something you open up, then put on a shelf. I wear the gifts he’s given me. It’s romantic receiving jewelry on special occasions.



Read the rest of the interview in this week's Life.