The Doctor is In: Patrick Dempsey on Style, Success and "Transformers"

McDreamy has my pulse a-jumping.

He's not checking my heart rate or holding my hand while gazing into my eyes with the "You have the plague, but it's all gonna be okay" look on his handsome face.

Right now, the star of "Grey's Anatomy" has ditched his stethoscope. His scrubs are in the wash.

He's on the Paramount motion picture lot in Los Angeles going all-macho on me. Get me a cold glass of water – stat.

Part of the reason for his new he-man talk is that Patrick Dempsey stars in this week's "Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon." It's McDreamy's chance to show us that underneath that sensitive, concerned, caring exterior is a guy who can kick serious butt instead of saving it.

Does his wife, Jillian, Avon's Creative Color Director, know that he has put life and his famous limbs in danger?

At age 45! Yes, he's a midlifer having a major moment.

"Oh, in this new movie, I'm dangling my body off skyscrapers," he says. "I'm running through the streets and falling on all this rubble."

Danger: Surface abrasions.

"Explosions are going off all around me. Boom, boom, boom!" he says in an excited voice. "My adrenalin was pounding. The explosions filled my ears. I was real close to an entire river that was on fire. All I could think was…."

Is my life insurance paid up?

"No," Dempsey says, laughing. "All I could think was it's great to be a sensitive doc on TV, but guys do need their macho moment. Every guy wants to be an action star. We want to show the ladies in our life that we have a daredevil side."

If that's shocking from TV's top doc…here are a few other style and life secrets that may raise your heart rate in the best possible way:

*Dempsey is a guy who smells good…for his wife. He's married to Jillian Dempsey who is Avon's Creative Color Director.  In fact, when Dempsey's own Avon cologne was released he did show up in the ad with some babe-of-the-week." "I didn't feel comfortable having a model in the ads. I'm married and that's not something I wanted to project. I wanted to just use my wife and make it about smelling good for her."

*Dempsey is a guy who takes fitness seriously. In his spare time, he likes to race cars, which means he has to keep his body in top shape. "It's physically exerting to race, so I stay in the gym and train," says the guy who when he was younger almost was called for the Olympic ski team. "I do a lot of running and cycling to keep in shape. It's also a great way to get rid of the stress of the day and not gain weight," he says.

*He also stays in shape for his kids. "I had kids in my 40s and I want to be here for a long, long time," says Dempsey who is Dad to three children, Tallulah, 9, and twins Darby and Sullivan, 4. "So, I train with the idea in mind that my daughter is going to want to have a piggyback ride and I don't want to say, 'I can't because it will pull my back out.' I want to go to the gym to keep strong above everything else."

*Dempsey is a guy who really loves beauty…and beauty salons. True story: He met Jillian when he went to her salon where she was a stylist. "It was love at first sight," he says. "I saw those eyes and I felt a connection." The bottom line is more guys should walk into salons because who knows what will happen. Plus, it can't hurt to get a little trim and learn a few wardrobe secrets. As for Dempsey, he says, "You can't go wrong in a dark colored suit."

*Dempsey is a guy who takes a chance. He is the new human on the block in the Michael Bay action flick and third in the "Transformers" franchise where the machines – the Autobots and the Decepticons – are battling again. The film also stars Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (as the newest babe), Ken Jeong and Josh Duhamel.  

"I play an investment banker. Shia's girlfriend works for me," he previews. "My character thrives on making the two of them feel uncomfortable." Ask him: Are you the bad guy?  "I think I'm a good guy, but ultimately you have to see the movie to decide," he says.

As for doing an action flick, he promises, "I can be a macho guy. I can fight robots. I can drive fast," he says. "It's not like I get to drive a Ferrari through the hospital corridors on 'Grey's.'"

*Dempsey is a guy who knows that midlifers don't waste money. There are rumors that he's leaving his day job on "Grey's Anatomy" for movie roles, but he told me that it's not true. "It's nice to take a few weeks off now before we start season eight," he says. "We start soon and I'm always excited to go back.

"Let's face it," he says. "In this economy, it's just nice to have a job. Believe me, those words are a long time coming for me.

"I've had some really lean years and I'll never forget them," says Dempsey. "I'm not the guy who says no to great work."

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