Must List 2005: Patrick Dempsey

Must List 2005: Patrick Dempsey

AGE 39

MUSTWORTHINESS Almost 20 years after teen cult hit Can’t Buy Me Love, Dempsey has viewers’ hearts throbbing and blood flowing (and any other hackneyed medical euphemism you can think of for turned on) as Dr. Derek Shepherd on ABC’s medical smash Grey’s Anatomy.

CAREER REVIVAL…STAT! ”The phone rings a lot more than it used to. People are really enthusiastic and warm to you, as opposed to when a movie comes out and it’s crap.”

DOCTOR STRANGEWORDS ”There was this one word, something to do with a blood clot in the spine, and I just could not figure out how to say it. I kept going, Can I just say, ‘It’s not looking so good,’ and then cut to a commercial?”

DOCTOR, DOCTOR, CAN’T YOU FEEL WE’RE BURNIN’ BURNIN’? ”There’s something sexy about a brain surgeon who’s not bald and potbellied. I mean, how do you answer that question? It’s not like I can say, ‘God, I’m sexy.’ If I do, my wife clubs me.”

NEXT Season 2 of Grey’s in the fall.