Patrick Dempsey was one of the main characters of Grey’s Anatomy for ten years, but what has he done since he left the show? Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC in 2005 and even though it was initially a mid-season replacement, it quickly earned the attention and praise of critics and viewers, which has allowed it to continue for over 10 years. Even though most of its original cast is now gone, Grey’s Anatomy continues to be quite popular and shows no signs of stopping soon.
Grey’s Anatomy follows the same premise as any other medical drama, focusing on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they do their best to juggle their professional and personal lives, which always end up overlapping and creating a lot of drama. The series is led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), and through her, viewers have gotten to know other characters quite well, as were her best friend Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and her husband Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). Appropriately nicknamed “McDreamy”, Derek became one of the most popular and beloved characters in Grey’s Anatomy, and that only made his departure even more heartbreaking.
Derek Shepherd was killed off in Grey’s Anatomy season 11 when he was removed from life support after a lot of complications following a car accident. Although Patrick Dempsey briefly reprised his role as Derek Shepherd in season 17, fans were left missing McDreamy, but thanks to Dempsey’s departure from the show, they have gotten the chance to see him in other projects. In the realm of TV, following his exit from Grey’s Anatomy, Dempsey appeared in the sequel/fundraising event and short-film Red Nose Day Actually, the miniseries The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair where he played the title character, and most recently in the financial thriller drama Devils, where he plays Dominic Morgan.
Patrick Dempsey has also dedicated some time to the big screen after leaving Derek Shepherd behind, though there haven’t been as many projects as before and during his time in Grey’s Anatomy. In 2016, he played Jack Qwant in the rom-com Bridget Jones’s Baby and served as producer in the comedy-drama The Art of Racing in the Rain. While playing Derek Shepherd, however, Dempsey appeared in a variety of movies, most notably Enchanted, where he played Robert Philip, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, where he played Dylan Gould. Luckily for fans of Grey’s Anatomy and Dempsey, he already has a couple of projects lined up for the near future, both on television and film.
As Devils was renewed for a second season, fans will get to see him again as Dominic Morgan, and he will also star (and executive produce) in the TV movie Ways & Means, which doesn’t have a projected release date yet. As for his work on the big screen, his most important project is Disenchanted, the sequel to Enchanted, where he will reprise his role as Robert Philip. The movie will be released on Disney+ in the very near future, as it’s expected to start filming in the spring of 2021, so fans of Patrick Dempsey will get to see him again as a very charming prince.
