Editing Patrick Dempsey (section)

===1990–2004: Established actor ===
[[Image:Patrickdemseyatthe80academyawardscrop.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Dempsey at the [[80th Academy Awards]]]]
Dempsey made several featured appearances in television in the 1990s; he was cast several times in pilots that were not picked up for a full season, including lead roles in the TV versions of the films ''[[The Player (1992 film)|The Player]]'' and ''[[About a Boy (film)|About A Boy]]''. He received positive reviews,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE2D81639F935A15754C0A967958260|title=MOVIE REVIEW Mobsters (1991)|author=Caryn James|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 26, 1991}}</ref> however, as he portrayed real-life [[Crime boss|mob boss]], [[Meyer Lansky]] in 1991 when ''[[Mobsters (film)|Mobsters]]'' was put on the screen. His first major television role was a three-episode stint as [[Will Truman]]'s [[the closet|closeted]] sportscaster boyfriend on ''[[Will & Grace]]''. He appeared in four episodes of ''[[Once & Again]]'' as Aaron Brooks, the [[Schizophrenia|schizophrenic]] brother of Lily ([[Sela Ward]]). Dempsey received an [[Emmy Award|Emmy]]<ref>[http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/patrick-dempsey Patrick Dempsey Emmy Winner]</ref> nomination in 2001 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the role of Aaron. In 1993, he played a young [[John F. Kennedy]] in the two-part TV mini-series ''[[JFK: Reckless Youth]]''. In 2000, he played Detective Kincaid in ''[[Scream 3]]''.<ref name="imdb"/>

Dempsey had a high-profile role as the fiancé of [[Reese Witherspoon]]'s character in ''[[Sweet Home Alabama (film)|Sweet Home Alabama]]'' (2002). In 2004, he co-starred in the highly acclaimed [[HBO]] production ''[[Iron Jawed Angels]]'', opposite [[Hilary Swank]] and [[Anjelica Huston]]. He also appeared as special guest star in ''[[The Practice]]'' for its three-episode finale season (8x13-8x15).