Q: Who keeps you in line?

Patrick: Family keeps me in line. Certainly it was a long road to get to this point.

Q: Does having traveled that road make you a better actor?

Patrick: I think life experience has certainly. I think the key to acting any more is really just presence and not being self conscious and listening and certainly relaxation is the key. And you just have to accept who you are, the good and the bad of it.

Q: So at the end of 11 episodes, is there any resolution or cliffhanger or something that indicates the end of a season?

Patrick: Yeah, well it’s interesting how it timed out. There will be something that…I’m really happy with where my character is at. There definitely will be a cliffhanger. You’re gonna want to know what’s gonna happen.

Q: Do you think that the TV audiences want you and Grey to get together?

Patrick: I think they do, certainly, but I think we’ve become really stagnant in the relationship. I’m tired of going back and forth and playing the same bead over and over and I think that’s been the biggest conversation we’ve had. It’s like we need to move forward with the dynamic between the two of them. And also I’d just like to see something else happen.

Q: Who do you play in Made of Honor?

Patrick: I play a guy who is extremely successful because he invented the coffee collar. A coffee collar, you know, they keep you from burning your hand. And he’s a bit of a playboy and he’s really good friends with Michelle Monaghan’s character. They’re best friends and she goes off and falls in love with this Scottish man, then comes back and asks him to be the maid of honor and at that point he realizes how much he really loves her and that she’s the perfect girl for him and then he has to go and try to figure out how to sabotage the marriage and the wedding.

Q: Is it surprising to you that after 20 years they’re still making romantic comedies where it was your best friend all along that you should have married?

Patrick: Well there’s only so many stories when it comes to that, you know. So I think that was the challenge for us. We were like, ‘Okay, this is a predictable story. How do you go about making it interesting and giving it a new point of view?” That was the real challenge of how to do that and I like the old Cary Grant movies and that kind of thing and there are a lot of good comedians right now that I think are much broader so we just tried to get it back to the dialogue and the spontaneity and things like that. Paul Weiland is the director. He did a movie called ’Sixty Six.’ [He’s an] English director and he brought a really nice visual style to it because I think in a lot of romantic comedies the lighting is very flat so the DP did ‘Room with a View’ and all the Merchant Ivory movies so there’s a real lush quality visually to it. And we shot in England and in the countryside so it brings it out a little bit. So we’ll see. I haven’t seen it yet. I’ve heard it’s good and I’m sure everybody will let me know soon enough.

Q: If there’s a sequel to this, would you like to sing?

Patrick: I talked to Alan (Menken) about it. Like I can’t sing but it would be fun to go back and find some sort of style of singing that would be appropriate for his character.

Q: Like Rex Harrison?

Patrick: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. We talked about that.

Q: Talk singing.

Patrick: Yeah. Sort of a patter type of thing and some more dancing I think would be fun to do as well.

Q: When you do a Disney movie, do you get free passes to Disneyland?

Patrick: Yeah, you do. You get all the great stuff. You’re kids love you because you get all the books and all the games and all the dolls that are out and you get free passes if you go. You can’t just send your family. You have to go. So you get to go on one ride over and over again which is great.

Q: Will there be characters at the park that will be based on your film?

Patrick: I think probably Giselle will become. It depends on the success of the movie. It’s kind of odd to think that way but yeah, probably.

Q: How many animals were real and how many were CGI?

Patrick: There were a few but not too many. Most of it was just recreated.

Q: Have you been thinking about projects to possibly do while your show is on hiatus?

Patrick: I think we’re just waiting to see how things play out. Does this movie work and then how did Made of Honor and what would be the next move? It really depends on the material. It always gets down to that. So is that another romantic comedy? I don’t know. Is it an action movie? Certainly that would be fun if it’s non-violent. That’s the thing that you’ve got to be careful of. I don’t know at this point where we’re at. I’ll wait and see.

Q: How hamstrung are you by the fact that if the strike happens but then maybe ends quickly and you guys have to go right back to work, is that going to affect your ability to make decisions?

Patrick: It’s too soon to tell. It’s just going to depend on how much time we have off on our hiatus.

Q: So in theory they may extend the length of shooting this season?

Patrick: Right. I think that’s still to be determined. I don’t know. I think everybody’s wondering what’s gonna happen.

Q: On this film, did you have table reads or rehearsals? Did you and Amy get together or did you just go right into it?

Patrick: No, I had maybe a couple meetings with the writer about things that were concerning me in making that leap from bringing her home. I could never quite buy that. It was like this is a crazy woman, what’s the logical step? You wouldn’t do this in real life because you don’t know if she’s going to come in and kill the entire family. So that was a question that we kind of had to answer and I don’t think we ever quite answered. You buy it because of who Amy is. You kind of let certain things go. No, I went right into it when I finished on Grey’s and then I went right into shooting right away.

Q: The little girl who plays Morgan is adorable. Because you have children, was it easier for you to connect with her in some way and help her?

Patrick: Yes and no. I mean there were certain things that were real easy and some things that were not. Because you’re like, ‘Well, if this was my child, I’d be doing things differently.’ So you’ve got to find a balance there. But it was fun and she was rather inexperienced and that was good I think. She was an interesting looking girl and there was a good spirit to her.

Q: Would you go back and do theater now just to get that live audience experience?

Patrick: I’ve never had great experiences in the theater. I find that there’s a lot of ego, even more so than in Hollywood. I think it would depend on the group of people, who the director was, and what the material would be. It would be far more interesting for me to go to some sort of regional theater where no one knows you. I mean they know you but they don’t know you and there wouldn’t be any pressure just to enjoy the process. I think the rehearsal process in theater is probably the most enjoyable. If I can do it that way, I would go back certainly. But I don’t think technically my voice is where it should be to be on stage and certainly not on Broadway at the moment.

Q: Do you have a timeline for Grey? Is there a point at which you would say I think I’ve done as much as I can do with this now and it’s time to move on?

Patrick: Yeah, I think I’ll follow out my contract and then we’ll have to reassess at that point. I think if the character keeps growing and is challenging, then it’s fun. It’s nice having a job to go to every day. I’ve never had that luxury before and that’s kind of enjoyable. I just want the character to be challenging and if it starts to become just the same old, same old, I don’t know if I would want to other than just making the paycheck at that point and securing a future for my family and getting the hell out of town.

Q: What are your Thanksgiving and Christmas plans with your family? I imagine travel is limited now with two young sons.

Patrick: Yes, certainly a little more difficult going through security. That’s not fun at all. I’ll probably go back to Maine. I want to go back to Maine. I haven’t been back for about a year because of last year with the babies coming we couldn’t travel. I really like snow and it’s an old home. It was built in 1934 and we’ve had it for about 10 years now. We got married there and I want my children to have that tradition.

Q: Is there a pet project or some character that you’re dying to play?

Patrick: There’s a couple things that I’m exploring. I think right now if you look at the careers that I respect, everybody’s really in control of the material and the directors that they work with and I think that’s the direction I need to go into. So it’s really about acquiring material and certain ideas and fleshing them out and seeing if I’ll have the opportunity to go ahead and do that. So, it’s exciting I think right now. I’m really enjoying it and this is I think a good first step moving forward. It’s a fun family movie but I think adults will enjoy it as well. It’s good spirited. I think it’s something really special.

Q: Thank you.

Patrick: Thanks everybody. It’s always a pleasure talking with everybody. Thank you very much.