Sunday with Patrick Dempsey: ‘Pickleball has become very popular in our house’

The actor reflects on walking the dogs, playing sports and watching them on TV, and his kids’ creative cooking

Are you an early riser? Monday is our lie-in day; on Sundays we get up early. We have dogs, so we have that routine. I’ll be up at 6, 6.30am to let them out, then I’ll have coffee, do some reading, go for a walk before the kids start to stir. Usually there’s a soccer game my son Darby is going to, so we’re trying to figure out how long it’s going to take us to get there with all the traffic. And then it’s watching the Premier League or Formula One.

Sunday grub? We have the afternoon family dinner, which is fun. The kids are cooking now and are very creative. My daughter is at university, but when she’s home she’ll cook – she’s an incredible chef. Whether we’re in California or Maine, we’ll go to the farmer’s market and get fresh vegetables and bread and then come back and figure out what to cook.

What was Sunday like growing up? Oh, my goodness. I wish my mother was a good cook. My father loved roast beef and mashed potatoes but my mother hated cooking it – and you could taste it. I dread that meal to this day. I grew up in rural Maine – there wasn’t a lot of social activity, but there were always dogs. I was free to run around in nature. I was always in the woods, always exploring.

How do you relax? I like to exercise. We play tennis. Pickleball [an American game with shorthanded bats] has become very popular in our house – we play that through the course of the day, which keeps me moving and able to bend over and touch my toes. If we’re in the mountains then we’re skiing. I used to want to be a ski racer – that’s what I wanted to be.

Sunday night routine? We watch John Oliver and then 60 Minutes. And then it’s to bed, usually quite early.

Season 2 of Devils is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW

Roz Lewis

The GuardianTramp

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