Casting director Jane Jenkins remembers Patrick Dempsey in his pre-McDreamy doldrums. So did a lot of other people in Hollywood. For no apparent reason, she said, "We had to fight with everyone to hire this guy." In 1989, he had been the romantic lead in "Loverboy"; by 2000, he was the cop in "Scream 3."
Then, of course, "Grey's Anatomy" popped like a Champagne cork.
"It took a hit television series for him to suddenly become everybody's leading man," said Jenkins, co-founder of the Casting Co., a firm that has helped film and television directors narrow down their casting choices for 27 years. Known as sexy neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd on ABC's four-season medical-show phenomenon, Dempsey is now starring in Disney's big-screen hit "Enchanted." Next year, he'll play the romantic lead in Columbia's comedy "Made of Honor."
As the class divide between TV and film keeps shrinking, TV has been solidifying its role as a maker of leading men. Original shows, on cable as well as network TV, are shifting attention to more mature and complex characters. The small screen is now crowded with charming, smart, confident, humorous grown-up men who are riveting critics' attention.
Kyle Chandler's manly, moral husband/father/coach centers NBC's "Friday Night Lights." Jon Hamm's mysterious, unfaithful husband/father/ad executive takes charge of AMC's "Mad Men," and Jeffrey Donovan, the intelligent, haunted and irreverent bachelor/ex-CIA agent adds depth to USA's "Burn Notice."
Jenkins said it doesn't matter if Donovan's isn't a household name yet. She's confident it soon will be.
"People in the business have all taken notice at this point, and the world will follow," she said.
Donovan, who described his pre-"Burn Notice" career as having "risen below the radar," just landed a part opposite Angelina Jolie in director Clint Eastwood's film "The Changeling."
Likewise, Hamm, who seemed to come from nowhere last summer, has since been pictured as his glamorous 1960 character Don Draper in leading magazines and newspapers. Though Hamm said he's not exactly getting Hollywood's "Vinnie Chase" treatment, he still sits in meetings he wouldn't have had six months ago. And he's now starring in an independent film, "The Boy in the Box."
For his part, a grateful Dempsey credits the nature of his "perfect man" character, the writing and the visibility television offers. "Studios are willing to bankroll you because of that exposure," he said.
