Patrick Dempsey makes pit stop at Saco school after filming ‘Ferrari’
The 'Grey's Anatomy' star, who has a home in Kennebunkport, was at The Ecology School in Saco Wednesday talking about the importance of sustainability and his appreciation for Maine.
SACO, Maine — Days after driving a race car through northern Italy for the upcoming film “Ferrari,” Patrick Dempsey was back in Maine, picking kale and having lunch with local students. Though the two situations might seem starkly different, the actor and Maine native saw a lot of similarities.
“It actually reminded me of Maine quite a bit, how closely people there live to the land, the traditions they have with farming,” Dempsey, 56, said Wednesday, sitting at a picnic table at The Ecology School in Saco. “I think our connection to the land is really important, so it’s great to see this school on the site of an old farm, and see these kids learning in nature.”
Dempsey was at The Ecology School to meet with students and film promotional videos for the school and one of its major corporate partners, Poland Spring. Dempsey has worked as a spokesman for the Maine bottled water brand, appearing in digital and TV ads. The Ecology School offers weeklong programs in sustainability to students and their teachers from Maine and across the country.
After picking carrots and kale along the banks of the Saco River with about a dozen students from Saco schools, Dempsey had lunch with them and school staff. They ate salad and carrot muffins made with ingredients grown at the school, plus lobster rolls. Dempsey, best known for his role as hunky doctor Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd on the ABC medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” chatted with the kids easily. He encouraged some to “eat your kale, it’s good for you,” he said, and talked about farming and gardening.
“It was sort of surreal meeting a celebrity in person, but he was so nice,” said Adeline Burman, 14, a freshman at Thornton Academy in Saco. “It was so cool learning about ecology and just talking about our world.”
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