Patrick Dempsey has been one of the entertainment industry’s most popular leading men for quite some time now. For years, audiences would tune in to Grey’s Anatomy to see him in the role of Dr. Derek Shepherd (a.k.a. McDreamy). Admirers still swoon over the veteran actor and, after his latest change, they’ll likely continue to do so. Dempsey is currently sporting white hair (yes, you read that correctly). And of course, with his new hairstyle, the star was naturally asked about the new hit show House of the Dragon.
For years, the public has known Patrick Dempsey to have immaculate black locks and in more recent years, the salt and pepper style. With that in mind, the white hair caught plenty of people’s attention during the first day of Disney’s D23 Expo in Anaheim. CinemaBlend’s Law Sharma and Jeff McCobb encountered the actor on the red carpet during the festivities and got a good look at his sweet new look. Check it out for yourself down below:
The 56-year-old star is definitely owning his new hairdo and, after seeing it, you can definitely understand why one would think that he’d signed on to play a member of the famously white-haired Targaryen clan. To fans’ possible disappointment though, the actor is not joining House of the Dragon (which is streamable with an HBO Max subscription). In actuality, as he explained to Deadline during D23, he had his hair dyed white because of a new role he’s taking on:
No, no, I haven’t [joined House of the Dragon]. What I’m doing is I’m doing a film right now in Italy about Ferrari that Michael Mann is directing, and I’m having a great time. I get to drive a lot of fast cars, and I play a racecar driver called Piero Taruffi, who wins the 1957 Mille Miglia. So it’s a dream job.
Personally, I think Patrick Dempsey pulls off the look well enough that he could indeed rock it on a regular basis. But then again, the salt and pepper ‘do has truly become his thing, and he’ll likely seek to maintain that moving forward. (Of course, as the years go on, don’t be surprised if you see Dempsey rocking a bit more gray.)
The idea of Patrick Dempsey joining the Game of Thrones franchise is still pretty interesting, though. I personally wouldn’t mind seeing him play a more laid back Targaryen, who can provide a bit of levity amid the intense politics, visceral bloodshed and gruesome birth scenes. But it’s likely that viewers are probably more eager to see him back on Grey’s Anatomy than showing up in Westeros. Dempsey’s Derek returned to Grey’s during Season 17 as a vision Meredith Grey encounters during her COVID-19-induced dream. While his final episode in that arc was a “beautiful” second exit from the show, the McDreamy actor didn’t seem to close the door on another return sometime down the road.
At present, though, we wish the Hollywood vet well, as he continues to drive down the actual road for Ferrari. Production kicked off in late August, so it’s possible that he could be sporting that white hair for at least another month or two. In the meantime, fans can continue to gaze at the hairdo – and insert the star into some sweet House of the Dragon fan art should they feel so inclined.
You can check out Patrick Dempsey’s work on Grey’s Anatomy by streaming past episodes with a Hulu subscription.
