Patrick Dempsey on Grey’s Departure: ‘I Stayed Longer Than I Should Have’
Patrick Dempsey has no regrets about leaving Grey’s Anatomy. If anything, the actor wishes he had checked out sooner.
“It had been long enough,” McDreamy’s onetime portrayer tells People.com. “It was time for me to move on with other things and other interests. I probably should have moved on a couple of years earlier. I stayed a bit longer than I should have.”
As Dempsey muses, “I think after a certain period of time, no matter how much money you make, you want control out of your own schedule.”
And when the time did come for him to walk away from the ABC drama in April 2015 (at the end of Season 11), Dempsey says series creator Shonda Rhimes did not block the exit. “It was clear we were both ready,” he offers.
Regarding Rhimes’ decision to kill Derek off by way of a spectacular car crash, Dempsey — whose first major post-Grey’s project, Bridget Jones’s Baby, opens Sept. 16 — says, “I thought it was really interesting. It definitely woke people up. And it was beautifully symbolic in many ways.”
How was it symbolic??? I know that was the only possible exit because Derek leaving town or getting a divorce would have been worse and not consistent at all with the story but it was very violent and sudden. In 2 episodes he was gone for good. I still watch the show and I think they dealt with his exit pretty well but it is definitely not the same show anymore.
I didn’t get how it was symbolic either. I guess it was symbolic since he was a surgeon and saved people’s lives, yet when it was his turn no one could save him.
So, I’ve been binge watching this for a couple of months (I can’t remember when I started really…it may be more like 4 months) and it actually was symbolic. Meredith’s been tanking. With all the stuff she dealt with, with her mother, and then her father, sisters and her entire relationship with Derek himself, she needed the “fresh start” that her mother had been looking for. It was the same as her mother giving up Maggie. A clean slate. Meredith wasn’t going to get that without his death. She found herself, found a strength she DIDN’T have before (when she almost drowned on purpose, or put her hand in the bomb guy, or told the shooter to shoot her instead). She knows she’s okay. It was symbolic…they just erased the chalk board. I haven’t seen much yet beyond his death yet…but it was pretty obvious.
I agree. I also think the show did a lot better at handling his exit than Lexi’s. The ridiculousness of that plane crash episode still remains a black mark on what has otherwise been a good show for me.
That plane crash, Lexie’s death and soon afterward Mark’s death, was the beginning of the ending of Grey’s for me.
agreed
Yeah it is just not the same. He brought so much happiness to the show. I feel like all the characters now just all have dark clouds over their heads. He literally held the show together!
Maybe he meant ironic? I always thought it was supposed to be tragically ironic that the world class neurosurgeon died from a brain injury that he probably could have fixed if he had been the surgeon.
It was both symbolic and ironic because he left the show to go car racing and the the car he was driving in the accident was a Porsche, the same company he raced in.
I still watch it too and you’re so right, it’s not the same show anymore. I miss Derek. Maybe Patrick is happy he’s gone and Shonda and Ellen, but I’m not :( but nothing I can do about it. BOOOO..
i bought almost all the series for greys anatomy and i honestly had fallen in love with meredith and derek’s relationship. Im now on season 11 and i am really affected by derek’s death. Im really mourning and sobbing and for now i dont feel like proceeding to watch other episodes. mayb later – but for now let me mourn him….i miss him
Meredith and Derrick gave life and love to the show and were the glue. No matter what went on, they offered a family center for the others. The show is never going to be the same, and I am sad it ended that way. Would of been better for him to have had to go to another continent for research and show up at home and at the hospital sometime rather than this.
Never understood why so much drama if it was his decision to leave. From the outrage you’d think Rhimes let him go.
It was clear he was just in it for the money in the last seasons.
Agree. He was one of my favorites but the last few seasons he was just phoning it in.
It isn’t that they killed him off, it’s the way he was killed off that still pisses me off. Absolute insult to the character, story, actors, and fan base.
Agreed!!
As someone who was never a huge fan of Derek, I have to agree. He was there from day 1, scene 1- he deserved a better goodbye episode. I really think the outrage wouldn’t have been so huge if his death/the episodes following it had been better written.
HE wanted to be killed off. He went out with a bang saving people lives. That is what he wanted he was SUPER MAN.
Meredith was actually watchable last season. No McDreamy in her life looks good on her.
Agreed!
True that!
I love how this story breaks just weeks before season 13 starts . Funny timing. I think Shonda forced Patrick out of the show by killing his character in such a dumb way. I haven’t forgiven her yet.
Dear Lord, not this again… We’ve moved onwards and upwards. It’s been a hell of a ride, 11 years but it’s done and dusted so please, no more and stay McGone. Thank you.
Waste of your time, if you ask me. He’s forgiven her, clearly, and is even taking half the blame you refuse to allow him. Stahp!!
No one has forgiven her yet! 😂
Surely, given that there was nothing to forgive in the first place.
Petty petty petty. The man wanted to leave, was killed off, and mentions the situation which he is clearly not upset about while promoting a new movie, and you still find a way to hate on Shonda Rhimes. Grow up.
He wanted “control of his own schedule” Ummm, yeah…unless you’re the boss, you report to someone. I hope I’m taking this the wrong way, otherwise he comes off like a spoiled brat.
Nope. He comes off like a spoiled brat. I have that complaint about Dempsey often, in fact.
He’s an actor, the way schedules work is different. When an actor is contracted to a show, that eats up 8ish months of their year in which they can’t really do much else. Now that he’s not attached to the show, he can choose how to spend his time (e.g. sign on to a movie, race car driving etc). He has flexibility of his schedule that someone who is on a network show does not have.
How does he come off like a brat? All he’s saying is, no matter how much money he was making, he didn’t want to work all those hours anymore. It’s pretty reasonable.
Seriously! He’s completely reasonable. There is nothing wrong with someone quitting their job for a more flexible schedule, people have all sorts of great reasons to move on.
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I don’t care anymore
I would have preferred he took the job in DC and popped in a few episodes per season than having him die and not come back at all.
I am the opposite. Mer and Derrick was always a epic love story. I don’t think it was realistic that he would take a job away especially after everything they went through to be together. In fact when they tried that the year before and the story dragged on. I actually think that him dying gave a new life to Grey’s that was starting to stagnate a little. Your way would have left Mer in limbo land and that wouldn’t have been enjoyable to watch.
No one has mentioned the kids that Derek was leaving behind for a life of traipsing back and forth. Even if he would leave mer for the high-profile DC job and made no sense that he would just walk off from his kids with the kind of father they had developed him into. And then him working without caring with his sister as boss was weird also. They let Addison come back for a while after moving on set these are real people so hopefully Patrick got what he wanted after investing all of those years into the show.
Don’t watch GA, but always thought PD bought into his own hype. How appropriate he uses GA angle and the ‘I should’ve left sooner because I’m above this tripe’ to promote his next project. What a little man not to acknowledge that GA took him from a nobody and made him known internationally.
I would love to hear his opinion on leaving when and if his movie bombs.
Me too
Bridget Jones will not bomb! Those movies are classics! And I cant wait for next week to finally watch it.
I saw a screening tonight. If you like the first one you’ll love this one. It was so funny!
Sequels are having the worst summer ever. I get the first one is a classic but that doesn’t make it flop proof.
I hope his comments help people move on. Nothing says go see my movie like I was on that other show that compromised storylines for me way too long and paid me handsomely in the process. Such appreciation.
I agree with Patrick that he was there a couple of years too long.
If we’re being honest the whole show has overstayed it’s welcome. I love Grey’s Anatomy, but when you start repeating the same storylines, or doing crazy stuff just because you can, it might be time to wrap it up.
This horrible show should have ended around 5 years ago.
Really tho, why? Many people still enjoy it and when you don’t anymore, you can just stop watching. There’s no need for it to end since people can just stop watching it at any given moment.
He was obviously not into it for the last few years. It was clear from every interview he gave plus it could be noticed on screen, too. I say good riddance.
PD made several comments over many years where he chose his words carefully when talking about GA being a job. Some of the storylines got kinda ridiculous about MerDer having problems in their marriage just to keep them central to GA. Still can’t watch Der’s exit.
It sounds like it Patrick Dempsey’s own decision to leave and left how Derek exited up to Rhimes.Plus Derek died as a resukt of his trying to save lives and since he was a neurosurgeon maybe it was fitting in a way that he died from a brain injury.Also Derek dying was probably the only way to write him off because he wouldn’t have left Meredith or their kids permanently.
I definitely miss him but still love this show. I heard a rumor that last season was it. I almost lost my mind. Please never never cancel this show.
OMIGOSH !! Are people STILL whining about Patrick Dempsey ?? He WANTED to leave the show. Do you people realize how long this show has been on ? He is an actor. Eventually , actors get bored playing the same role over and over. He wants to do movies…more time off for him to race cars, which he also likes to do. The man is allowed to have a life. Frankly, I was much more upset about Cristina leaving. But, again, actors are human beings, entitled to lives of their own !
I’ll bet Derek is with Ziva, which makes Tony angry.
It is clear that Patrick Dempsey is now happy. He hadn’t been for a long time. A lot of that unhappiness had to do with his job and the people with whom he worked. He had put everything into a role and character that was a major contributor to the success of his show, yet his character was clearly going nowhere in the last few years and he was left with nothing of interest to play. Most actors act because they want to be challenged and have something different to play. He is one of them. Other actors choose to play the same role for as long as a network will keep a show on the air because they want a steady job with a steady paycheck. They don’t care about the challenge of different roles and they avoid even trying to get another role claiming that their gender or age or both prohibit them from successfully getting another role. So out of fear or laziness, they settle for one acting gig and turn it into a job. Fair enough, but I think that unlike others on GA being willing to stay for the next 20 years, Patrick was bored, tired, and fed up. He is right that he should have left sooner. 11 years is an amazing run for an actor. No amount of loyalty to a show or fans should keep a man from spreading his wings and pursuing his dreams of racing, doing other projects, and having control of his personal schedule. I see the relief and serenity now on his face and I’m happy for him. I wish him well.
Yes, u are right, he is an actor and its his life, he had the right to leave the show. But death of Derek is too painful. There was only a single perfect man in the planet even if it was jst a tv character but he was an angel. It makes me sad ;(
So basically he said f*** the fans who cry when I die 🙄