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Patrick Dempsey Speaks After ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Exit, Says He Feels ‘Reinvigorated’

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 08:24 PST, Dec 21, 2015

Actor Patrick Dempsey seems like a new man after leaving Grey’s Anatomy. It’s been half a season since Dempsey’s McDreamy has been featured on the show, and it seems like Dempsey is better for it. The actor had been on the show since its start 11 years ago — until his character was killed off in a tragic collision.

Now, Dempsey is finally breaking his silence after enjoying his time away from the show. Speaking about his role in the upcoming Bridget Jones installment, Dempsey told Entertainment Weekly that he feels “reinvigorated” because he had the chance to play someone other than Dr. Derek Shepherd.

“It all happened quickly. “It completely reinvigorated me. I’ve enjoyed it immensely, getting back into something that has a beginning, middle and end.”

In fact, Dempsey said that after a while, he felt like he was grinding out the episodes on Grey’s Anatomy thanks to its fast pace in producing content. It seems like Dempsey really enjoyed taking his time in getting to know the character, as well as the slower pace that’s taken on a movie set, thanks to a few months that it takes to tell the arc of a full story.

“It’s a completely different approach. With Grey’s, you’re just grinding it out. In this instance, you take the time to get through things. I knew it would be heavy like that. I’m very happy to have moved on to a different chapter in my life.”

It sounds like Patrick Dempsey is doing a whole lot better in his personal life as well. When Dempsey was still on Grey’s Anatomy, it was announced that he was divorcing his wife Jillian Fink, but as the Inquisitr reported, the two were seen recently holding hands and traveling, which suggests that they’re giving it a second shot.

The hoopla around Dempsey’s dramatic exit had died down for a bit until Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes was asked by Comedy Central’s Larry Wilmore whether or not she has killed someone off of her show because she simply doesn’t like them. Rhimes admitted that she did once, but wouldn’t name names. In Shondaland, we had plenty of picks to go off of, and while no one said it was Dempsey for sure, the actor was asked to weigh in on the quote.

As it turns out, it didn’t seem to bother him like some thought it would.

“I think she loves being provocative, and that’s fine for who she is. She knows how to deal with the media to get the response that she’s looking for. She’s very savvy.”

When Dempsey left the show, he spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the decision. Initially, the actor said that it was Shonda Rhimes’ idea to kill off McDreamy. Rhimes followed Dempsey’s exit interview with an interview of her own. At the time, Rhimes really battled with the decision to kill the most beloved character off or, at least, it seemed like she did.

She told the Associated Press, “The decision to have the character die was not a difficult one.”

“What were the options? Derek was going to walk out on Meredith and leave her high and dry and what was that going to mean? That was going to suggest that their love was not true, that the thing we said for 11 years was a lie, and McDreamy wasn’t McDreamy. For me, that was untenable.”

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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patrick dempsey Derek Shepherd Grey's Anatomy Shonda Rhimes
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