Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Like you wanna find the edge, but you don't wanna go over the edge. Right? So that's, that's the balance that self preservation,
Speaker 3 00:00:19 What gives us our edge and how do we go beyond it? How thin is the line between taking part and tipping into victory? What inspires those moments of rare advantage that change the shape of a race, a winners born or made, and what happens when things go wrong or when it all goes right. Welcome to the edge. We'll be talking to people operating at the very edge of possibility from athletes to actors and from artists to entrepreneurs. I'm your host TA van and BRCA watch out. This is the edge, a podcast by tag Hoya, Patrick Dempsey. Thank you so much for joining us for the inaugural episode of the edge with tag Coya. It's wonderful to have you here with us. Um, how are you and where are you?
Speaker 0 00:01:19 I'm in Maine and it's great to be on the edge, um, here in Maine. So yeah, I'm in the country. So I'm in, uh, I'm in heaven,
Speaker 3 00:01:28 You know, we should probably start by saying you are, uh, the kind of very modern iteration of a polymath. You are a Hollywood leading man. You're a racing driver. You're an entrepreneur cyclist activist. I mean, you have many, many different careers and many fingers in lots of different pies. Um, a, a kind of like how has what's happened with the quarantine and with lockdown affected what you're doing and kind of, which is the one that people are most surprised by in terms of your career choices.
Speaker 0 00:01:58 Yeah. I mean, everything is stopped this year. So this year's been a year of just sitting, still letting things come up and then kind of getting, uh, an idea of what the next year will bring or hoping what the next year next year will bring sort of setting goals for 2021 at this point. And with all of the different interests I have, it's really trying to find time to incorporate and to maintain each and every one of them. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, um, balance I think is very hard to achieve. Uh, it's it's it's like juggling, you just try to keep all the balls in the air and then simplify your pattern so that you have more time to spend with each project, how to, how to train yourself, to just deal with every crisis as it comes. And it's meant to be right. You don't let it upset. You just go, this is it. This is the, the direction we go in.
Speaker 3 00:02:50 Is, are you practicing stoicism now in, in I'm trying to days by too. Well,
Speaker 0 00:02:54 I fail.
Speaker 3 00:02:55 You're doing very well.
Speaker 0 00:02:58 I think that's the, the aspiration is to try to stay in that place all the time.
Speaker 3 00:03:03 Cause you, you are, you are a big with big meditator. You meditate, right? I I've I've
Speaker 0 00:03:07 I've anything to have tools to be able to survive life, I think. Right?
Speaker 3 00:03:11 Yeah. Yeah. I've I've I personally have found it quite hard to find that space. I mean, I guess you, you,
Speaker 0 00:03:19 I find it it's, it's easier for me to get into that space if I'm on a bike, because then you're, you're, you're getting your body moving. So you take that anxiety and you channel it and then you calm the mind once you get into the physical activity.
Speaker 3 00:03:33 I mean, I guess looking at what else you do, I mean, you, with the racing with acting, I mean, obviously with the cycling, all of those things, I would imagine involve a certain taking yourself out of your own mindset and putting yourself somewhere completely different. I mean, it, do you find that that kind of practice of not necessarily stoicism, but of that kind of me meditative behavior applies to all of those pursuits?
Speaker 0 00:03:59 Yeah. I think you use a lot of those, uh, skills in everything you do that we were talking about, you know, compartmentalizing and sort of being able to focus a hundred percent and going, okay, lemme just go into a deep focus on this particular subject or whatever I'm focusing on and stay there with that.
Speaker 3 00:04:17 Mm. And do you find it hard or is it, is it,
Speaker 0 00:04:22 It depends on how many, I think, you know, what, what becomes hard in the real challenge is when you have the obstacle, that's getting in the way of what you're trying to achieve and, and, and staying calm in the midst of that conflict, like with what we're dealing with, just on the technical side of things with this, you know, today is just, you know, you spend half of your time just getting ready to show up. Now
Speaker 3 00:04:45 That's
Speaker 0 00:04:46 True. Right? And you have to be able to, to prepare for that mentally. So it doesn't spin you out when you get into the actual meet of whatever that meeting is about or whatever that zoom call is about.
Speaker 3 00:04:57 Totally. And I guess it's dealing, you know, personally in terms of Tago, but dealing, dealing with that pressure and kind of transforming it into something that doesn't kind of squash you, but enables you to rise above
Speaker 0 00:05:09 That empowers you. So how do you use the, the pressure to, to accelerate your focus? Not, um, diminish the focus and that just, I think is like anything else it's just, it's like going to a gym, you just have to strengthen that mental muscle and everybody arrives at their own technique in their own way.
Speaker 3 00:05:28 Which of the, the kind of things that you do in your life. And I'm not just talking about your career pursuits, but you know, whether it's engaging with your family or anything, what, what kind of enables you to, um, what has enabled you to practice that most kind of acutely? If that makes sense. I mean, is it the race? Cause I imagine with racing, you must be so deadly laser focused that it must like hone that muscle in a very specific way, but is
Speaker 0 00:05:56 It, yeah, stakes are much higher. So your, a level of attention is that much greater, right? Because you know that the mistake could be catastrophic. Um, and you wanna have that sense all the time in life. It's like living at that height, living on the edge, you know, this is about the edge, right? So what is the edge? How do you define it is really just being keyed up enough and being really on point where you're, you have that attention to detail and your situational awareness of everything. And that should apply in everything you do. That's the challenge is finding things that engage you enough to, to be able to focus that intensely. So that's what a lot of issues been about is really sifting through all the things that are out there. And you're like, well, and you prioritize, what has the most meaning and what is gonna have the biggest impact on the safety of your family and the wellbeing of your family. And then everything goes from
Speaker 3 00:06:47 There. I, I mean, I guess this year specifically has meant that you probably haven't been able to do many of those things that have enabled you to focus in that way. So have you found other things maybe that are kind of slightly smaller? <laugh> I dunno, you know, like certain people have found tidying during lockdown has, has made them focus or, you know, like the whole Murray condo, um, explosion.
Speaker 0 00:07:12 I think we've all gone through that in the last, you know, year at some point or another where we've had major cleaning and like you go through and you separate, okay. Let's just put the pile over there and then go through the emotional attachment to these objects, right? Yeah, exactly. Which is, is really therapeutic. It's like less is more, we have so much clutter. I certainly do it. That, it's interesting that you brought that up is it is really streamlining. Like last night I was, you know, cleaning out some stuff here in Maine and I'm like, okay, what do I really need? Can I, can I start to live with less and really extracting from my life for things that are distractions.
Speaker 3 00:07:47 Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:07:48 We don't have a lot of time. Right. So you want to, the interesting thing about this stoicism is like you live every day, like it's your last, because you don't, you know, you look back at like, okay, what do I look back at my life? And what do I feel good about leaving behind here? What have I done that has something of a positive impact on society
Speaker 3 00:08:06 And for you, what, what is, what are the conclusions you've come to about that? What are those things?
Speaker 0 00:08:11 Well, you know, I, I really enjoy the work being done with the Demp C center in the integrative medicine that's being done. I think that should go hand in hand. As soon as someone is diagnosed with, with cancer is that holistic approach comes in. So you attack it on a physical and an emotional level that really will help that patient. And the family really have the stamina to go through the treatment. So to me, that has the most meaning and then using my visibility of the platform of the show in that pseudo doctor world, to bring the awareness there, that to me, then it has real meaning. And then you're making a profound impact in people's lives in a good way.
Speaker 3 00:08:47 Uh, the, the D center. I don't even hope we don't mind us talking about it, but I, I, it was triggered by the death of your mother from ovarian cancer that,
Speaker 0 00:08:54 Right. My mom fought ovarian cancer for over 17 years, 12 recurrences. So every couple years it seemed like to be, it would be coming back. So we spent a lot of time in and out of hospitals and, and you know, what could we do to give her a better quality of life? And a lot of the things that we learned through that process really informed, uh, us on how to set up the foundation,
Speaker 3 00:09:16 Right?
Speaker 0 00:09:17 And that psychosocial aspect of, uh, cancer and also survivorship is another thing too, is the specter of Willis cancer come back. So you deal with prevention all the way through, until survivorship. And when you do something you're working in a nonprofit, or you're working with, uh, some of that is altruistic. What, what you do as a, as a collective, as a team, as an organization is really powerful. What people come without ego, they're doing, doing something with the soul benefit of how it can impact and make life better for someone else is really that's the place to be in, in life. I think. And in fact, I know that's what we wanna be doing.
Speaker 3 00:09:56 That's what you wanna be doing.
Speaker 0 00:09:58 Yeah. Don't you think in your experience that you feel that way?
Speaker 3 00:10:00 Definitely. I mean, I personally, I feel like I'm still figuring it out and, and, you know, it's that you, you go through the, the arc of kind of doing something because you love it. And then you get to a point where like, like I do journalism and well actually, could I be writing about something that has more meaning or helping in a certain way that maybe I'm not. And I think that that is a very personal process that one has to go through and I feel like it must be a kind of life's work. I don't, I D if, if you agree with that, but I, I, I don't think you'd ever necessarily reach a conclusion if you do feel that way, that you've you've achieved it. Cuz then have you really
Speaker 0 00:10:37 <laugh> no, cause we're, we're so in a constant state of constant refinement, right. That's why we're here. And until we pass, I guess we don't stop working. You can't
Speaker 3 00:10:47 Do, do you think that's kind of, um, cuz again, you know, not to keep laboring the point, but going back to, with acting and with racing, they're both, I would imagine incredibly competitive fields to be in and, and what you do with kind of the medical side of things and the philanthropic side of things. The altruistic side of things is I imagine not. So is it, is it a bomb to do those things or is it, is that the wrong way of looking at it?
Speaker 0 00:11:14 Yeah, I think the it's in all of these things, you have to be careful with your ego and that's true for everything, right? Like the really great athletes or performers have strong ego without being egotistical. You know, they there's, there's some sense of humility in there. Um, that really allows you to engage with someone. And I think that's, what's great about sports or you're competing, um, in the motor sport and other racers is that, you know how fast you are, it's in the data, you know, it's, it's not an abstract notion as an actor, there's the competition, but it's so abstract as to how do you quantify success or talent, right? <laugh> because everybody's so different and you're creating a character and you're, you're, you're selling yourself. So it's a celebration of an individual. So how do you compare yourself to another individual that's where you get into trouble and that's where the ego can really undermine a person, um, in a sport, you know, either you win or you lose and, and in acting it's you get the role, you don't get the role, but it has nothing to do with you personally and your being that, but that's how you're being judged.
Speaker 0 00:12:23 That's where the competition is, which is really challenging mentally.
Speaker 3 00:12:27 I can imagine. I mean,
Speaker 0 00:12:28 And hard on friendships within with, with relationships with actors, I think because of that.
Speaker 3 00:12:33 Right. And, and I mean, did you feel that, I mean, I, I imagine you obviously did you felt that personally and did you struggle with it and how did you kind of overcome it if ever you did <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:12:45 Um, I spend a lot more time. A lot of my friends are really either they're they're, they're cyclists, they're skiers or they're, uh, race, car drivers and not so many acquaintances within my chosen profession, the acting community. I, I stayed pretty isolated from it. Okay. To be honest with,
Speaker 3 00:13:05 Do, did, did that harm you in terms of like a job opportunities? I don't know. I mean, I imagine, well,
Speaker 0 00:13:10 I think it would probably help if I was a little bit more social in, I did that, but that's, that's not where my head is at.
Speaker 3 00:13:16 No. I mean, the way we're talking, it makes it sound as if racing was a solution to that problem. When actually that isn't true. You kind of started out as a sportsman. You were a natural born sportsman, you, you were a jumping,
Speaker 0 00:13:29 Right. I wanted to ski race. It was really interesting, you know, very much like Jack Hoyer and the great tradition of tag Hoyer and skiing and, and capturing time. So I wanted to be an Olympic skier in Mar Denmark was my childhood idol who was, you know, at, in that generation in the seventies. And eighties was one of the best skiers, Alpine skiers in the world, consistently racing, um, and always on the podium, you know, so top winner. So that was, who was driving me as a kid. And I ended up riding the unicycle and, and doing that for my, to improve my skiing. Okay. And then I ended up getting involved with this VA bill troop and starting to perform. And then that's where my career ended up going. I mean, but I always wanted to be a sportsman. So I feel more at home within a community like a racing community or a skiing community or cycling community. This just, I, I just feel at home there immediately. And I always feel slightly uncomfortable within the Hollywood community and that world when I'm working, it's different, but in a social setting, it's, it doesn't feel as comfortable to me.
Speaker 3 00:14:34 I I've heard you talk about the, um, V Deville, um, element of your life, uh, kind of loosely before. I'd like to be a little bit more, um, granular about it. Can you, can you explain exactly what it was like and what you did and what, what, what, what was the, um, what was the world that you were in
Speaker 0 00:14:51 World was called the new vails, which were, you know, Maine in the seventies and the eighties where a lot of people dropped out in the sixties and came up here, got in touch with nature. And a lot of those skills, like from the big fairs, uh, and things like that. People started performing in a traditional way. And lo and behold in the town I was growing up with in, in, in, in Buckfield Maine was the hotbed for this group of new VA, billions Buckfield, leather and leather. And it was a traveling show where they would do performer performing like juggling and slapstick and sort of like sketch comedy and then sell product on the side to kind of make money. So it was a medicine show in that sense, they weren't selling any product, like, okay, this is gonna save your life from whatever. But we were selling weather goods and things to treat leather and things like that on the side, outta the back of this old O uh, truck that the stage would fold down on. And then we would travel around in the, this 1930s truck
Speaker 3 00:15:51 <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:15:52 And that's, that's how I was making money as a teenager.
Speaker 3 00:15:55 Amazing. It's I
Speaker 0 00:15:56 Juggling and magic and, and all that stuff. Some of the magicians were all like little bit of fun pick pockets in the sense of what they could get away with.
Speaker 3 00:16:04 Oh, really?
Speaker 0 00:16:05 Yeah. There a little bit. Oh, really? <laugh> yeah. They're a little bit dodgy in their behavior.
Speaker 3 00:16:08 I'm guessing you weren't one of those.
Speaker 0 00:16:10 No, no, no. I was fascinated and I was the youngest one in the group. I was like the little kid in the group, so it's sort of like the mascot.
Speaker 3 00:16:17 So I get you, I guess you got a little bit of a taste for as much performing as for it's like competing. I mean, cuz you know, juggling's an active pursuit. It's not as if you can just,
Speaker 0 00:16:24 Well there's competitions like there's the international jugglers competition in the IGA and uh, they have a big competition every year. They have a junior competition and then they have a senior competition. I play second in the junior competition. <laugh> in 1983, Anthony got, there was the winner of this tournament and he was like seven and he was into N, which is like big, you know, he was up I think to seven rings or something like that.
Speaker 3 00:16:48 Wow.
Speaker 0 00:16:49 Wow. And that's sort of the thing within the, the juggling community is how many things you can keep in the air, but it's fun to follow the juggling community now because of the tricks that are being performed from everybody around the world,
Speaker 3 00:17:01 There's a metaphor for your
Speaker 0 00:17:02 It's great Instagram. If you follow the international ju association and it's really amazing to see certainly the street performers around the world, those are the ones who I think are the most talented in the most innovative. And they're like these little stars in the juggling world and they're, they're performing on a street corner and it's really fascinating to see what they can do.
Speaker 3 00:17:23 Amazing. I mean, yeah.
Speaker 0 00:17:25 It's fun to reach out to them too and talk to everybody
Speaker 3 00:17:27 <laugh> do you still, do
Speaker 0 00:17:28 You still, I do. I like certain jugglers I'll reach out to that are around the world. I'm like, this is amazing. How did you come? How did they, how did they design these tricks? How do these tricks evolve? Which is really fascinating.
Speaker 3 00:17:38 Yeah. I can imagine. I mean you, so you grew up in Maine, obviously you, you were there now, but you, you grew up in Maine and right. It was in Maine that you kind of first had. I want, I don't wanna say run in with, uh, with auto racing, but your passion for cars driving.
Speaker 0 00:17:54 Yeah. The only way to get around in rural areas is to have a car or bike. Right. So, and then in the winter we would cross country ski everywhere because we could, because everything would be shut down. Wow. So for me it was total isolation. So how do you keep yourself engaged and entertained? Because the closest neighbor was a mile away where I grew up, so I could drive the back roads in my dad's pickup truck and be okay, you know, you could go down these dirt roads and no one would bother you. So you had the freedom that you get when you're on a farm or you're out in, in the rural communities. Um, but the problem with that is you have tremendous isolation. We don't have the, I didn't have the technology that we have today. So you're connected to the rest of the world. There you were really, um, it was up to your imagination to keep yourself entertained and engaged.
Speaker 3 00:18:42 Sure. I, and did I read something about there used to be these kind of cars that would come through your town and you, you were kind of seduced by the romance of the
Speaker 0 00:18:52 Yeah. The first time I saw a Jaguar, I didn't know what it was <laugh> it was one of the most breathtaking cars I'd ever seen. It was a one 20. Okay. But definitely a one 20. I, I remember that and uh, this woman was driving it and it was the most amazing romantic image I'd ever seen in my life was this woman with a scarf pulled into this gas station in this 1950s XK one 20, it was beautiful. And uh, where we lived, it was on route four. So that was one of the major route where you could see cars through the summer months or in the fall when people would come up and look at the leaves, you would see everybody out exercising their antique cars. And that was my first love of those came. It wasn't even until I got to LA that I realized, wow, people actually can number one, afford these cars and actually use them like every other car is this, you know, super car in California.
Speaker 3 00:19:41 What, what was the first kind of, um, I mean, I, what was the first car you ever bought? And then I'd kind of like to know more about your car collection. So I imagine you have quite,
Speaker 0 00:19:49 The first car I bought was a two 80 D Mercedes, you know, and this woman in Maine, you know, the winners were so cold up here that you had to, you had to plug the car in the glow plug to keep the diesel going. So she got tired of dealing with it in the winter. So she gave it to me for like dirt cheap. It was like two grand for this 1972 brown Mercedes. That was my first car.
Speaker 3 00:20:12 Fantastic. And, and you imagine you've amassed quite a collection now, could you,
Speaker 0 00:20:17 Can I slow it down a little bit, but yeah, I have just Porsche now. So I have my Porsche tractor from sixties from the early sixties, which is really cool, uh, safari car, which is like a little rally car from 1982, uh, the 3 56 63 Porsche. Uh, I got that when I did the movie, can't buy me love. I spent my entire paycheck on that car and I still have that car, my 72 T and R and, um, an 82 with an a, uh, 3.6 liter. We dropped in it Patrick Long and I modified that car a little bit. So that's
Speaker 3 00:20:52 Fun, which is, which is your favorite to drive
Speaker 0 00:20:54 The 3 56 without question.
Speaker 3 00:20:56 Oh, really
Speaker 0 00:20:56 The older ones. Yeah, they're really, they're, they're fun. And when you're out on the road, it, it just makes you smile. It's so much fun. And then your interaction with other people, you know, they're warm to you, you know, they're open and that's nice.
Speaker 3 00:21:13 Um, you've achieved a, kind of an extraordinary amount in racing, um, in, in a relatively short ti space of time. Can we talk a little bit about that? Cause obviously you competed in Lamar, you were on the podium, um, and that was with Tay. Um, if I'm not mistaken <laugh> and it, it be just, how did it feel to achieve those things? How did you ever really believe that you would be able to, or was your mindset such that you were kind of, you always knew it was gonna happen?
Speaker 0 00:21:41 Well, early on I wanted to race at LA mall. That was always the goal. Um, certainly an endurance racing and I, I, I focused on endurance racing so I could do Daytona and Seabring. I never made it to Bathurst. That was the one race I regret not being able to do really, um, Baja 1000. I did. So I got a chance to do pretty much all the races I set out to do. Um, and it was great. And certainly working with tag warrior and the history, the rich history within motor sport and having that part of be a part of that legacy was very meaningful and very inspiring and motivating to be a part of and to race at that level. I was always aware of how fortunate I was number one, to be able to do this and to separate myself, to enjoy the whole journey mm-hmm <affirmative>. And there was, there was always a moment of witnessing it and participating at the same time was trying to find that balance. And it's changed how I look at life in what my model for life is after that. I think a lot of the lessons I learned in my, uh, focus in, in my attack on laal really has served me in, in everything else I do in life. Without question
Speaker 3 00:22:51 Really? Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:22:52 It's a team aspect. Well, I, I, it was certainly working with portion with tag and big organizations that have a great history. There's a certainly within Porsche, like we will have a good result. We know how to do this. What is in the way of stopping us from getting there and we have to improve that and work on that and a real methodical approach to the obstacle and how to overcome it and what the objective is in working as a team to achieve that objective
Speaker 0 00:23:18 And getting the ego outta the way. And in Hollywood, it's very challenging because egos are so fragile because there's such insecurity. I think that's where it comes from. And this is the thing to constantly remember is to keep people feeling safe. And that's what I felt. I learned working with portion with tags, there was a safe environment and there was a, a level of commitment because of the heritage of what is expected of you and involvement. And that's how you sort of, you take all those insights, uh, and lessons and apply it to other aspects like the center work and, and like building team and starting to produce. It's like you take that mentality and shift it into new challenges. So for me, going into being a team owner, uh, and, and producing and doing these things, this is new uncharted territory. And then pushing me to the edge of new things that I don't feel comfortable doing. And that's an important thing to remember is being uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 00:24:19 Mm
Speaker 0 00:24:20 I, because then you're starting, then you need to, because you have to continue to grow.
Speaker 3 00:24:23 Of course, because I imagine with a relay, you know, it's not like you are, you are competing in a grand Prix and it's just you, the loan driver, you are in a team and you, there are, you know, you are sharing the responsibility. Does that make it? Um, I guess you've kind of just answered it, but does it take the, the glamor out of it in a way? I don't know. I, I just imagine it must be challenging to kind of share that glory. I don't, or maybe I'm wrong.
Speaker 0 00:24:49 No, because I like the team aspect of it, right? Yeah. If you have, and because of the, the ranking system, when you have a, a gold, silver, bronze, every driver's rank differently. So your race is really within yourself. Always. That's the fun thing about endurance racing is you're not really racing your competitor as, as, as it is, you're racing yourself and how, how far can you push yourself past your comfort level and still stay in control? Like you wanna find the edge, but you don't wanna go over the edge. Right? So that's, that's the balance that self preservation of like, sensing that it's there, knowing that it's there, but not letting it suck you into the other side, having the emotional discipline to control it. It's like when you're on the, the tack and you you're up and you're close to the red line, you don't wanna go into the red line. You wanna be right there where it's bouncing off the red line.
Speaker 3 00:25:39 Sure.
Speaker 5 00:25:46 Our roads meet again on the starting line for years, we wrote our own legend chased our two destinies. We kept paste with the most daring drivers won the most dangerous race, splitting a second in 100, slicing the wind we timed the best lap started in pole positions raced on the most famous wrists, inaugurated, legendary race tracks. We broke records of precision revving up speedometers delving into the infinitely, small and channeling new energies to set new limits running the same tracks. Our roads were meant to meet again. Here we are ready to open new horizons to seek the thrill of being the first ready on a new starting life together.
Speaker 3 00:26:48 I, I guess it's also though managing the exhilaration that comes from being that close to the limit because the adrenaline must be pumping. It must be, it must be quite an addictive feeling. So it's, it's a,
Speaker 0 00:27:01 It's a calm high. See, that's the thing is like, when you get to that level, there's, there's a calm that overcomes you where there's a power in the calmness. Okay. Not the crazy, uh, outta control energy, but there's just something sublime in how calm you feel in the midst of all the turmoil. Like when you're in a race and you have multiple classes all around you and there's somehow you're enjoying it and you're aware of it. And you're sort of fired up at the same time. That's beautiful because then you're aware of so many different things in life, on so many different levels and that's the hardest place to, to maintain, I think. And that's why the high of competition is so great. Everything else is just to the side and you're right where you need to be in that moment.
Speaker 3 00:27:48 Yeah. It's I guess it's that mindfulness thing again, isn't it, it kinda being,
Speaker 0 00:27:51 That's what they talk about being in the zone or being in that focus. And it's like, how do you, how do you do that without numbing out in life? You know, I think that's the thing. Once you've had highs like that in the competitive world, or even in one's career, that that's, that's the thing that's very challenging is you get used to living like that, then everything else gets dealt. So you're trying to constantly find that feeling again.
Speaker 3 00:28:16 Well, I mean, you've, you've stepped back from racing at least as so in so far as you, the way
Speaker 0 00:28:21 You, well, I reached my goal. So now the stuff I wanna do in racing is sprint races. Like those would be the things you could do two or three races in a weekend, and you go out, you do a 35 to a 40 minute race without driver changes and just full on sprint. That was the program I had for this year. But unfortunately with COVID, it just wiped everything out. So
Speaker 3 00:28:42 I see, I,
Speaker 0 00:28:43 I wanna keep in it enough to, to, to keep the skills up and, you know, I, I like the sport and I like the training for the sport and I like the comradery.
Speaker 3 00:28:54 Yeah. I can imagine. I mean, and
Speaker 0 00:28:56 The competition's fun too. It always
Speaker 3 00:28:58 <laugh> yeah, go. We can't deny it. You've got it. Yeah. But you've, you've still been doing a lot of acting and producing. Um, and you're still very much in the film and television world. I mean, right. Is that something you, you are wanting to maintain and, and keep doing? Because I know there was that famous quote where you said, if you could stop, um, yeah,
Speaker 0 00:29:15 If I was 25 years old, I would be racing full time all the time about the responsibility. So I wanna be able to, now we did the documentary, which was Hurley and then art of racing in the rain finally got done. And I've got a, a documentary that I'm working on, on the mental aspect of sport, and then something with the us ski team, with the women's, uh, program and the success that the us skiers had a women's, America's pretty profound. So those are the things I wanna do is more producing. Mm. And, and kind of control your own destiny.
Speaker 3 00:29:48 I think those, um, those stories within the sport world that kind of have that universal resonance are so powerful. We've seen it so much, um, in cinema and in Hollywood, but for me that H the H the film that you've made about, um, her Hayward is just so, so moving, cause it's a topic, you know, he, he comes out in the film, um, as being gay in this very kind of natural world, particularly in the time that he was, um, operating in his peak. Um, what kind of inspired you to make that film? Why did that, that motivation come from,
Speaker 0 00:30:18 He wa he really early wanted to tell his story, and I felt it was important to support him in that, and also to put it in context to the sport in where he was at a time and place in the seventies. Um, and also to the mental, uh, uh, illness that we talk about in that documentary as well, with, with Hurley's racing partner, his, you know, they were very successful in the seventies, but at the same time, you know, there was a mental illness with his, his racing partner that we share as well. So those things were all important stories that I thought were, you know, not, it, it, I think it would be very healing for people to see, and it has, and it has been,
Speaker 3 00:31:00 Yeah. And personally speaking it, it was as well. I found it really, really, really moving. Um, I, I, there's a bit in that where he talks about kind of, you have to dig, dedicate everything to it. And I know that you, as we just talked about, you kind of stepped away cause you wanted to spend more time with your family. Did you, did you recognize something of yourself in him?
Speaker 0 00:31:22 Yeah. I think with all race car drivers or anyone who's on the road a lot, it's a sacrifice to your family and to the ones that are close to you and you have to do it. It's not like, you know, you get up in the morning and it's like, there's something so deep inside of you that it's worth the sacrifice. You just have to do it. Hmm. And then when you have your goal and you set out to achieve it, there's a lot, you sacrifice along the way. And then when you finally get there, there's, there's a internal shift. Once you realize your goal where you're like, okay, I've done that. Now. It's time to recalibrate into focus on something new, new goals. And for me, once I achieved that, it was okay. It's time to get back and focus on my family and my personal life. And, and, and, and, and start to balance that out again, like, you know, once again, we talked about the pendulum swing. It's like, you go to the extreme and then you gotta find the center again and bring it back. And that's, for me, the sacrifice was no longer justifiable. Um, because I had achieve what I, I set out to achieve. And I went, as far as I could go with my ability and I had the team and the support in place to do everything I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 00:32:29 I mean, you,
Speaker 0 00:32:30 You, and then you have to go, okay, now what's next? Like, how do I stay, what I
Speaker 3 00:32:33 Was gonna
Speaker 0 00:32:33 Say? Yeah. And how do you stay hungry? And how do you keep yourself comfortable being uncomfortable and have that desire to go out and train enough? You know, so you have to prioritize.
Speaker 3 00:32:45 So with that, I mean, you, you clearly have a very goal orientated person. Um, what, what's the next goal? What's, what's the next big thing on the Dempsey radar?
Speaker 0 00:32:56 I think really, you know, this, year's been getting my daughter through co uh, through, into college and making that transition and closing that door. And that's a goal in a sense of like, okay, now she's in a new chapter in her life, and this year's really setting up projects for the future as a producer. Um, so that's really what I've been focusing on is really cementing, um, my career as a producer. And that is just by getting things done. So that's the next goal.
Speaker 3 00:33:25 I, I, I I'd listen to you a podcast where you spoke about how kind of being in charge of your own destiny, particularly as an actor is the most important thing. Cause otherwise you're kind of just waiting for the phone to ring and it, and it, you know, and it can just not happen and it can be sold destroying, um, how that that's true, but how do you get to that point? Because I'm sure there'll be a lot of young people in not necessarily acting careers, but people listening to this who think, well, how do I become a master in my destiny? Do you have any advice in that space?
Speaker 0 00:33:55 Yeah. Well, first of all, just value who you are as an individual, because that in itself is sometimes hard to, to realize and to hear this is that you are unique for being who you are and your perspective is unique to who you are and you have the technology. If you have an iPhone, you can make your own movies. You can be the strip. I mean, look at TikTok. It's like, you can, there's technology out there. You can do a feature like film, or you can create your own show. Um, so that's what I would do is like, don't there, you have the technology, it's just a question of, how's your storytelling, what's the story that you want to tell? You know, what's your perspective? What is your point of view on the world and sharing that with us, you know, so anybody can do it.
Speaker 0 00:34:34 It's, it's, it's finding the idea that is moving to you. That's, uh, you know, what do you wanna say? And for me coming back to Maine allows me time to step back and to sit down and to throw the technology away and go out and walk around in nature in order to go, okay, what is it that's going on inside of me? You know, what do I wanna focus on right now? What am I happy with? What am I unhappy with? What's troubling me. What's making me feel good. And having the time to sit in order to get for the next round of goals and things that you're,
Speaker 3 00:35:08 <affirmative>, I, we should probably talk a little bit about the things that you do personally, speaking about the edge, um, that you, the processes you go through to improve your performance, um, whether that's enacting or whether that's in racing or in anything, what, what are the, um, what are the, the steps you take in order to, to do that?
Speaker 0 00:35:30 I have to look in the mirror and go, okay, what, take a good look at yourself and go, okay, what's working. What isn't, what do I need to improve? Hmm. And then sitting down at the beginning of any project and going, I'm a beginner I'm starting over and trying to get your ego out of the way. That's the biggest thing is really not letting the ego in a negative way, interfere with your work, trying to approach it with humility, uh, and with openness and not letting all of those demons in the back of your head get in the way. So that's the first step I think, is the most important.
Speaker 3 00:36:05 And the second step <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:36:07 Cause then it's execution. It's like understanding what it is and then going out and then grinding it out and getting it done.
Speaker 3 00:36:13 Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:36:14 You know, because you have that romance and that momentum and that enthusiasm at the beginning of the journey, and then as it comes, then you gotta get into the grind
Speaker 3 00:36:24 For sure. You know what I mean? And
Speaker 0 00:36:26 Enjoy that. And, and that's the hardest thing is to enjoy the process of it. Because ultimately at the end of the day, when it's done, that's all you have to really look back on is how, how much have you enjoyed the process? That was something that early on someone said to me, the process is the product. And I think that's an important thing to remember.
Speaker 3 00:36:45 Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, and I guess, you know, often it's about taking risks and, you know, pushing yourself into spaces that you wouldn't necessarily feel, uh, secure enough to that, that like reaps the greatest rewards. I mean, what have been the moments in your life where you've taken the greatest risks
Speaker 0 00:37:05 When you go kicking and STR screaming into something and you realize that it's the best thing for you, you know, you're, you have that fear and you go into your fear, uh, and you overcome it.
Speaker 3 00:37:17 Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:37:17 You know, when your heart rate goes up, you feel like you're having a heart attack. That's a big
Speaker 3 00:37:21 <laugh>. I imagine that comes more from racing than it does from acting
Speaker 0 00:37:27 Well, no, I think there are public events where you're out and you're front of you're in front of a lot of people or there's something that has a lot of attention to it that you can get that way.
Speaker 3 00:37:36 I mean, in terms of acting, do you find, um, like obviously acting for the screen is one thing, but acting on stage. I mean, do, does that kind of get the blood pumping in a different way for you do, does that?
Speaker 0 00:37:47 Oh, absolutely. I think it it's a bigger, it's a, it's been a while since I've been on stage, but it's so immediate that you, you feel it right away. There's something wonderful in the process of it. And it's something my mother, I think, you know, she wanted me to do more stage work than I did.
Speaker 0 00:38:05 Did she? It's always something we, yeah, because it was something we, I started off in the theater and did it, and then it is, it's a little bit more like motor sport in the sense that it's, you go off and you, you, you feel that anxiety before you get in the car, it's like stepping on stage for the first moment of the play. Oh yeah. You know, your heart's speeding and then you gotta calm down. But that that's a muscle that I haven't exercised in quite some time, which would probably be a good thing for me to do in the future.
Speaker 3 00:38:30 Do, do you, do
Speaker 0 00:38:31 You, it would have to be the right play in the right environment. And certainly not something I wanna do right now.
Speaker 3 00:38:36 Well, that will no
Speaker 0 00:38:36 Desire to do that.
Speaker 3 00:38:38 And
Speaker 0 00:38:38 I'm more interested in documentaries. So I, I think the stuff like curly in doing more things within the, the, the world of sport to me, I think the mental aspect is something I really find intriguing and wanna explore. And then also the female psych, uh, skiing team in the history in the us is something that's really interesting to me in a sport that is, you know, if you're in Switzerland or you're in Europe, it's, it's the most important sport in America. It's just one of many sports that is, you know, fighting for attention.
Speaker 3 00:39:10 Tell, tell me a little bit about that project that, I mean, I'm very intrigued.
Speaker 0 00:39:14 Well, we have one that sort of mind, mind, uh, mind games, which is really the mental aspect of sport. How do you deal with fear? How do you deal with success? How do you deal with injury? How do you deal with retirement and, and, and working with the, the coaches, you know, the mental aspect of sport is huge. You know, everybody gets to a certain level and then how do you handle the pressure mentally? That's gonna either make you a champion or just make you an also run.
Speaker 3 00:39:39 Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:39:40 So that's what we're focusing on that with some key athletes we're in, pre-production on that. And then the history of the us ski team, the women's team compliment, um, the men's documentary.
Speaker 3 00:39:51 So do you think this marriage of kind of sport and documentary and film, this is the kind of future for Patrick Dempsey? Is this, is this where,
Speaker 0 00:39:59 Well, this is the immediate future. I mean, there are other things that I'd like to do in a, um, you know, in a, in a fictional way that would be a different type of story, but yeah, this is sort of the direction more producing. I don't know if I wanna direct, but I certainly wanna produce, I like bringing people together and creating a team to me. That's that is definitely the direction I'm going now.
Speaker 3 00:40:21 Okay. So it's got that kind of parallel with what you've been doing with racing, I guess, in that, in terms of same thing, same thing.
Speaker 0 00:40:27 And then within the racing community, we continue on and develop the young drivers. And then I would like to do more, uh, sprint racing and things like that.
Speaker 3 00:40:35 Okay. And, and will the sprint racing kind of, how does that evolve? Where, where do you, cause I can't imagine that you're gonna kind of stick, you do like
Speaker 0 00:40:42 A lot of the Porsche cup races and things like that. So the same, same make cup. That's what I like to do. The cup racing and Porsche to me is probably the most competitive and the most exhilarating right now for the amount of time that I have to do about sport. And then I like the offroad racing too. I mean, I could get into doing some of the like Baha again or something like that. Those, those races are really a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 00:41:05 Okay. I mean, Patrick, we obviously are here with Tay and we, we should be talking about apparently is an extraordinary watch collection that you have. Um, can, can you tell, tell us a little bit about, about your watch collection? Well,
Speaker 0 00:41:18 I'm getting into the interactive watches now, which is, oh, wow. Something I've resisted, but I'm starting to see with everything I've been doing. I like the, you know, all of the, the, a, the support you get from it, from your training and cycling and all that. And certainly with the golf, it's been really good <laugh> so I see the potential with that, but I like the vintage stuff too. I think, um, for me, the older watches, the watches that recruited by Jack queer have the most meaning in the se in the context of the brand and in his, his impact, you know, in this, in these couple decades that he, his work and, and it's still, I think, uh, affecting company on a profound level, as we see these, these, these anniversary editions come out, you know, so
Speaker 3 00:42:03 That, which model specifically what's your,
Speaker 0 00:42:09 And the Monaco are the two that mean the most yeah. For different reasons, you know?
Speaker 3 00:42:15 Yeah. Cause I guess the Monaco's often a little bit of an UN unsung hero. That's very, no, I
Speaker 0 00:42:20 Mean, you know, it was a total disaster when it was launched. Right. Because people didn't really, it wasn't until it was, you know, put into product placement that it changed everything. But yeah, it was so revolutionary at the time with the shape and the technology that it wasn't embraced immediately. And they had a lot of extra ones running around. So they gave it to the prop master for, uh, Lamar, the film and that's, and now, you know, it's an iconic watch because of that.
Speaker 3 00:42:46 I mean, that must feel it's
Speaker 0 00:42:47 Really interesting, isn't it, when you look at the history and all the things that they had to overcome, and now it's one of the most important watches and styles, uh, within the
Speaker 3 00:42:57 Industry and the dedication to it and the belief in it. And, and as you say, the inauguration of that kind of placement, that really smart placement, I mean, which you are arguably quite a big part of yourself. I mean, you know, there's a, there's a strong history of tag with, with film and you got Steve McQueen and now, now you racing. I mean, it, that must feel wonderful to be part of that legacy and that heritage,
Speaker 0 00:43:20 It's like a dream come true. You know, you sit around and you fantasize on your couch as a kid or as a young adult and you, you would go, God, wouldn't it be great. And then when you start to achieve these things, there's a lot of pride in that, in that you're representing a brand that has a great history within the motor sport industry and certainly in sport in general. Um, and you want to connect all the brands that you work with, and we we're doing that, which is nice to see Porsche and tag, who you're working together now in the beautiful history and legacy that they have. And, and what's the future have in store, you know, we know where we've come from, where are we going? I mean, one of the new
Speaker 3 00:43:59 You, um, you directed a visual poem to Jack Hoyer, right? Yeah. He was very move. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker 0 00:44:06 Well, there's a lot of the symbolism right. Of this stuff that he had. Um, and certainly Porsche was, he had a, he had that mg, that was his first car. It was a gift. His, I believe his father gave him upon graduation from college.
Speaker 3 00:44:18 Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:44:18 Yeah, yeah. And, and then the next one would be the, I think the early nine 11, but that, and his love for rally racing and, and wanting to improve his times in rally racing was what led him to development of a lot of the technology and innovation that he had. So it was fun to be able to tell that story through visual styling and, and, uh, and to be able to use the music black and white and, um, ish Kaminski, you know, academy award-winning, uh, documentary, uh, um, DP, uh, director of photography was great to work with. So we had a great style
Speaker 3 00:44:53 With that. Uh, do you, um, yeah, Jack Hoya was arguably, uh, polymath of his day also. Um, do you, do you see parallels, uh, between the two of you?
Speaker 0 00:45:06 No. I think about him a lot though. You know, this, this week I was up, uh, doing something in Northern Maine and you think of the history of skiing and, you know, he would teach skiing on the weekends. He'd fly up to, I think it was New Hampshire Vermont in the midst of running this company. And it was, you know, they were just starting the company off in America too. So he had this double lifestyles. I was just, it was just such a fascinating period of time. And you think of Warren Miller and all the, the movies that were done at that period was skiing in that generation where there were limitless possibility, you know, and you see his imagination, his skiing and all that, that he was a true sportsman mm-hmm <affirmative> and it reflected in the business. And we've lost that in the sense, and we don't wanna lose that. And I think that's the beautiful thing about the organization is that they stay connected to him. And that was the beauty of doing that. Yeah. That little movie is, you know, we honor him and the inspiration and the foundation that he is he's provided for the organization.
Speaker 3 00:46:04 Well, it's a legacy you are arguably helping to maintain, uh, which, which of us feel like a, a fantastic, yeah,
Speaker 0 00:46:10 It's really, it's a tremendous honor. And, um, um, it, it, it definitely motivates you, you know, a question.
Speaker 3 00:46:18 Well, I, I mean, I hope you, um, I hope you manage to get back out on the track soon and, uh, and that this doesn't this lockdown, doesn't keep us out of doing the things that we love
Speaker 0 00:46:26 Too long. It's fun here. I get, I have like a little John Deere tractor, which is really a little quad, and I'll tell you bang for your buck. It's so much fun. So I bomb around the field in that, and it gives me a, keeps my skills up on the car control.
Speaker 3 00:46:39 Fantastic. Patrick
Speaker 0 00:46:41 Qualifiers.
Speaker 3 00:46:42 Thank you so much. It's been wonderful speaking to you. Thank you for joining us at the edge. A podcast by tag Hoyer. Don't forget to subscribe on Spotify, iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. The edge is also an online magazine. Go to magazine dot tag, hoy.com for more articles, interviews, and photo series that bring together our love of watches and our desire to push ourselves to the edge of our limits. I'm your host te van and BRCA until next time, keep an eye out. This is the edge.
