Patrick Dempsey Says Raising Kids in Hollywood is ‘Challenging,’ Praises His ‘Polite’ Children’ (Exclusive)

The father of three proudly shares how he's kept his kids grounded despite being in the spotlight

Patrick Dempsey is opening up about the tough side of parenting in the public eye.

Speaking with PEOPLE in this week’s cover story, the Ferrari actor, 57, admits that his kids, "want to have their own identity, separate from me and that shadow."

"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," he says of 16-year-old twin sons Sullivan and Darby and daughter Talula, 21, all of whom he shares with wife Jillian.

"They’re all athletic, they like to move. 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."

The father of three notes that it's "very challenging having your children grow up in Hollywood and to be in that environment."

"I just read something about how important it is when you have children, the environment that they’re in will be the most important thing for them and their development," he shares. "So trying to keep that a good calm loving safe environment for them."

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Related: Patrick Dempsey's 3 Kids: All About Talula, Darby and Sullivan

The actor, who will next star in the slasher film Thanksgiving and the biopic Ferrari, also opened up about the realization that it’s “harder” raising teens than little kids.

“Because you need to be around, but they don’t want you around because they’re fighting for their independence, which they should,” he explains. “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.”

The newly crowned Sexiest Man Alive now credits his sons, especially for keeping him on his toes. “They keep me very active,” he says. “I need to stay in shape to keep up with them. The older you get, the more work you have to put in.”

In terms of his kids embracing his new title, Dempsey expected them to “just make fun of me and pick on me and figure out every reason why I shouldn’t be,” he says, laughing. “Which is good, they keep me young.”

For more on 2023's Sexiest Man Alive, pick up this week's issue of People, on newsstands Friday.

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Read the original article on People.