Patrick Dempsey Reveals Why Raising Kids in Hollywood is 'Challenging'

Patrick Dempsey is opening up about navigating family life in Hollywood.

The 57-year-old Grey’s Anatomy actor was recently crowned People‘s Sexiest Man Alive, and he spoke about his family in the cover story.

Patrick and his wife Jillian Fink share three kids – Talula, Darby, and Sullivan.

He called it “very challenging” to raise them around the entertainment industry.

Keep reading to find out what he said…

The actor explained that his kids “want to have their own identity, separate from me and that shadow.” He added, “They all have unique qualities and they have their own goals that they need to develop and harvest themselves and we just try to model our behavior and hopefully they’ll pick up on that.”

“They’re all athletic, they like to move,” Patrick continued. “They are all very disciplined on that and you just try to instill the right values. Hopefully, they have the right manners and when they come back in and other parents go, ‘Oh your children are very polite,’ you’re like, ‘That’s nice to hear.’ And you know are they grounded.”

He emphasized that it’s difficult “having your children grow up in Hollywood and to be in that environment.”

Patrick explained that he recently read about how a healthy environment is important for kids’ development. He noted that he’s “trying to keep that good, calm, loving, safe environment for them.”

The actor finds it harder to parent teens than younger children.

“Because you need to be around, but they don’t want you around because they’re fighting for their independence, which they should,” he said. “They need to find out how they interact in the world, they need to learn those boundaries, they need to make mistakes. And you need to be there for them and allow them to learn from that.”

Patrick responded to winning Sexiest Man Alive at this point in his career while speaking to People.