Patrick and Michelle: On Weddings and Romance

In the new romantic comedy Made of Honor, "dreamy" Patrick Dempsey of Enchanted and "Grey's Anatomy" plays womanizing Tom, the best guy pal of Hannah (Michelle Monaghan of The Heartbreak Kid, Gone, Baby Gone and Mission Impossible III) but it takes her falling in love with a wealthy Scotsman ( TV's "Journeyman" and "Rome's" hot Kevin McKidd) to clue Tom in on the fact that Hannah may just be the one he should never let get away! When Hannah asks Tom to be her "Maid" of Honor, he sees it as a chance to break up her romance and win her back.

Patrick and Michelle hadn't seen each other for a while so there was a little catch up time before our interview in Beverly Hills. Patrick wanted to know about Michelle's recent trip to Australia with hubby Peter White, a graphic designer. Seems Michelle actually did ask a close guy friend to be her "Maid" of honor at her 2005 wedding so she was already living part of the storyline for this film when she joined the project. A perfect match. Read on for a candid chat with the co-stars on juggling, short kilts, falling for your best friend, their own romances and weddings and, from Patrick, what's comin' at us on "Grey's Anatomy".

TeenHollywood: Patrick, how do you see the perfect romantic comedy?

Patrick: Hopefully entertaining and romance. Y'know, I think that's the key. It was important that we had a connection and that people would go on the ride with us. That's what you want in a romantic comedy; to have people that you want to see together and how do they overcome the obstacles that are in the way for that to happen.

TeenHollywood: Are there any classic romantic comedies that are favorites or inspirations for this film?

Patrick: I looked at a lot of older movies, Cary Grant, that period. Screwball comedies of that era I think is what we were trying to do. And also, the tone of Four Weddings and a Funeral or something like that. It's hard because this is a genre that has been played out so much. You can't reinvent the wheel, but hopefully want to make it entertaining and that people go along the ride. And the other thing we were really thinking about was 'how to we make this visually stimulating?' So, it's lush and pretty.

TeenHollywood: It's from the male point of view as well and that's refreshing.

Michelle: A male point of view. Usually, the girl doesn't get the guy. The girl has a broken heart. The girl goes to the girlfriends and they help mend the broken heart. So, I thought it was really refreshing, this take on it. My husband went to see it and he absolutely loved it and I got really excited cause typically guys always refer to romantic comedies as 'chick flicks' and I'm excited, because I think guys will get taken to this by their girlfriends, but I think they are going to walk out of the theater really entertained. Patrick has a unique ability to connect with guys, as well as women for obvious reasons.

TeenHollywood: Patrick, there's a definitive moment when your character realizes Hannah is the one. When was that moment in your life?

Dempsey: I think when I first saw her [his wife] I said, 'Oh this is interesting.' It was sort of a moment that I'll never forget, late afternoon I can just see it clearly. I think it was magic for me. It has been the best thing for me. Family, kids, it's great. I love it.

TeenHollywood: What were your own weddings like?

Patrick: Mine was great. Very romantic. Very small. We created the whole thing in like two weeks. I was thrilled with mine. I don't remember much of it, I just remember trying to get it all together. We were back in the farm in the country and it was a beautiful day. It was so long ago now.

Michelle: Mine was much the same. It was small. My husband is Australian and we got married near the Great Barrier Reef. It was wonderful, beautiful, romantic, small. It was nothing like the one on the Isle of Skye (in the film). I had a much smaller wedding dress and my hair was down. No updos for me! (Laughs)

TeenHollywood: The locations were amazing. What was it like in Scotland?

Patrick: Oh, it was great. We were only there for five days. We got to drive up to the Isle of Skye, which was great. It was beautiful. I'd never been there before and that was one of the other reasons to do the movie, quite honestly, I was like, 'Oh, great location. I'll take the movie.'

Michelle: Yes, and the town of Woodstock, prettiest town ever. Like out of a fairy tale.

TeenHollywood: Now Patrick, you are wearing a very, very short mini-kilt in this film. What's with that?

Michelle: He wore it every day (laughter).

Patrick: I actually wear it now at home all the time. Well, I just thought it was fun. It was a great visual gag and hopefully it gets a good laugh.

TeenHollywood: You juggle some expensive plates in the movie. Was that written in the script or did you just start doing it?

Patrick: Paul (Weiland, the director) came up to me saying 'how do we move the exposition in this scene? Can you juggle? Go juggle these plates'.

Michelle: He did it! I turned around and he was juggling these plates.

Patrick: I hadn't juggled in a while but I was second in the international juggler's competition in '83 in the junior division. I wanted to join the circus but I was too young. They wouldn't let me in. But I performed in Maine. I did juggling, slapstick comedy, unicycling and magic. That's what I did in high school. That was my job.

Michelle: (laughing) He's too much. I can't take it.

TeenHollywood: Why don't these two characters, who are obviously perfect for each other, not see what's right in front of them?

Patrick: They take it for granted I think. And then, it's not till it's gone that you realize how special it is. The thing we were working on was, 'How do we keep these people apart? Why wouldn't they have an affair earlier?' But then we wouldn't have a movie. We were like, 'What's the deeper issue here?' And I think the thing we really worked hard at developing is the relationship with (Tom's) father. The dynamic with the father really affects him and it's why he doesn't believe in marriage because he's not seeing one that is healthy. So, I think that was one of the reasons why he didn't do it. He was fulfilled on a friendship level and had his physicality and the sexual kind of thing in other relationships. But he just didn't have the depth and the emotion that he has with this relationship.

Michelle: She really does have feelings for him and she's had feelings for a long time. She knows that he's not ready to commit, but they certainly have a connection and they're best friends because they can laugh at each other, they're honest with each other. I think, if you have that foundation, then you're always going to feel connected. What would you go with? Somebody that you just met on a whim and made a really hasty decision about or somebody that you have a real history with? Obviously you go with the one you have a history with.

TeenHollywood: Tom has all these dating "rules". A lot of girls would just run the other way.

Patrick: Yeah, In those first drafts and we were like 'This guy is completely unredeemable'. But, he is upfront about it. At least they know where they stand. He's not manipulating. He's like, 'Here it is. If you want to do this great, if you don't that's fine too.' He's nice, he's just very clear on what he likes and what he doesn't like. He's a bit of a player and I couldn't emotionally handle that I don't think. I think it's kind of empty after a while. I don't know how he does it, but he did.

TeenHollywood: In the film, Tom's dad has a great line regarding the old saying, 'If you love someone, set them free' and saying that was bulls**t. You should go after them. How do you feel about that?

Patrick: I think you should follow your heart. I think when you feel strongly about something you should follow that. You try to instill that in your children and yourself. It's like what's your passion? What do you really want to go after because that's the goal and that's what you need to try to always remember.

TeenHollywood: This guy is way more physical than your character in Enchanted.

Patrick: With Enchanted I had to be very restrained in that performance, just because I had to set everything else up and keep the emotional balance. This, I had to drive it. And then the scenes with us were a blast. I had a great time.

TeenHollywood: Patrick, you gave Amy Adams a 'Grey's Anatomy' signed DVD. Michelle, Did you get any gifts?

Michelle: No, I didn't get anything.

Patrick: Thanks for bringing that up [laughs].

Michelle: He maybe bought a drink for me once. A glass of scotch, I dunno.

TeenHollywood: Have you ever had to fight for a girl's love?

Patrick: I wouldn't put myself in that situation in public. There was a girl I liked and she didn't even see me. I remember that. So many years later, I say, 'Ah, now you see me.'

TeenHollywood: Michelle, do you think a man and woman can be "just friends" and not be romantically involved?

Michelle: Well, yeah, I think it's about how much do you value a relationship? I think it's that age-old question. I have a best friend who is a guy and we haven't had sex. He was my maid of honor, actually. He was my man of honor. So, that works. I can attest to that. If you have a great relationship and you can be honest with each other and want to give it a shot [then, okay]. But, if you take it to the next level and it doesn't work out, I hope you're really, really, really good friends, because that could be really, really awkward. And if it does work out? Well, that's like the best scenario ever. I mean, what could be better than marrying your best friend and falling in love with your best friend, so I think it's an individual case.

TeenHollywood: Let's talk "Grey's". What have you shot so far?

Patrick: There's a two hour season thing we're just in the middle of right now and the hours are incredibly long. It's a lot of work.

TeenHollywood: Are you happy that Derrick and Meredith are getting back together...again?

Patrick: Who knows. Are they? I'm so spun out over that. I'm not sure if it's me or the character at this point. It's funny. I'm excited. I just hope we keep moving forward and keep the stories fresh and we don't do what is predictable. I think that's going to be the challenge.

TeenHollywood: How much more "Grey's Anatomy" do you see yourself doing?

Patrick: Well I have a contract and I don't think it's wise to leave a show. You've seen other people who have done that and I think it's a big mistake. There's an audience there. It really gets down to the stories and we are going to continue to keep it fresh and entertaining and not too predictable. At the end of the day that keep everybody there.

TeenHollywood: Did you lose ratings because of the Writers Strike?

Patrick: You notice there was a real dip in the ratings across the board in television because the audience has been lost because of the strike. It has been damaging and I think also on the Internet people were downloading the shows too. It's going to be interesting to see if we get some momentum going into the next six shows. We have to gain the trust of the audience again and they have to fall back into the storylines and get reconnected.

TeenHollywood: Patrick, are you signed up for an Enchanted sequel?

Patrick: Well, technically yeah. Anytime you do a movie like that they have you set up, if it's a success, to do a sequel, but I don't know what the story would be at this point. They have to work on that. We'll see, if it's a good story it could be fun to see where those characters go but I want to stir it up a little bit, be a bit more dramatic at times. I think the world we live in right now, you just want something that's entertaining. I know I do. You don't want to think about it too much.

TeenHollywood: Michelle, you have Eagle Eye coming up which taps into those fears that people have about terrorists.

Michelle: It's a very, very exciting movie. It's not really terrorist driven. It's really a race against time and it's about all the technology that permeates us, permeates life on a daily basis; your ATM, your cell phone and things like that. And for me, that's just a really, really exciting genre to be part of. It's stunts and action and all these things. I'm happy to step into a different genre.

***

Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.