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Patrick Dempsey has taken his silver fox persona to the next level.
The Golden Globe nominee, 56, sported a new bleach blond look Friday on the red carpet at Disney’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, Calif., where he was honored as a Disney Legend along with Ellen Pompeo, Tracee Ellis Ross, Anthony Anderson and the late Chadwick Boseman.
He explained to Variety that he will be blond for “a few more months” while filming Ferrari, in which he plays Italian race car driver Piero Taruffi.
“I love it, it’s great. It’s fun to do something different. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I’m known for my hair. So, this has really jacked up a lot of people, they don’t know how to embrace it. Either they love it or they hate it,” he mused.
“I like it. Dye your hair, have fun. Blonds have more fun, I have to tell you, it’s true,” Dempsey said, adding: “I’m in Italy, driving race cars. So, I can’t complain.
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Starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, the biopic from writer/director Michael Mann follows the Italian racer and entrepreneur’s life in 1957 as he dealt with family woes while preparing for the Mille Miglia (Thousand Mile) race through Italy.
The movie also features Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Jack O’Connell and Gabriel Leone.
Dempsey, who has a long-held passion for cars and racing, attended Monaco’s Grand Prix circuit in May with pals Prince Albert and Princess Charlene.
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He previously revealed his love for automobiles was inspired by his father. “My dad was a big fan of racing. He grew up in Maryland. He was part of that generation of the moonshine runners,” he said on Jay Leno’s Garage in 2016.
“He had a short-track car, and on Friday nights he would bring me home a Matchbox car every week. His passion for racing was mine, and that’s always something I loved as a kid. And I think that’s why I love racing so much — it reminds me of that time in my life.”
Dempsey added of his dad, who died when he was 17: “I think he would have loved the racing. He wasn’t too keen on the acting so much.”
