Patrick Dempsey’s life is kind of great right now.
Not only does he star in the highly-anticipated Bridget Jones’s Baby (out September 16th), but Dempsey has also saved his 15-year marriage to wife Jillian.
In January 2015, Jillian filed for divorce from the Grey’s Anatomy alum, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason.
A year later, the two decided to give their marriage another try.
Dempsey told People Magazine that he was willing to do whatever it took to win Jillian back.
“Our marriage was not something I was prepared to let go of,” he said.
“I didn’t feel like we had done all the work. And we both wanted to do that work. That’s where it started.”
Jillian’s filing was “scary,” Dempsey recalled.
“It’s always destabilizing when you’re potentially breaking up a family or you have a big section of your life that’s ending.”
Dempsey credits couples counseling, which he deemed “very important,” for making their union stronger, but it’s what happens outside of the therapist’s room that matters just as much.
“You’ve got to keep at it,” Dempsey, who has three children with his wife – Talula, 16, and twins Darby and Sullivan, 8, said.
“You’ve got to communicate, and stay open and not get lazy. And not give up. And lots of sex!”
Dempsey admitted to ES Magazine that his intense love affair with car racing took its toll on the marriage, but he’s not one to admit failure when it comes to his family.
“Everybody has their own path,” Dempsey explained.
“Jill and I decided it was time to work on our issues and improve. We wanted to be role models for our kids like, okay, if you have differences, you can work them out.”
The Dempseys were spotted in Europe together last year while Jillian served as Jennifer Lawrence’s makeup artist on The Hunger Games: Jay Part 2 European premieres., a clear sign that they were working on getting back together.
“You can only do one thing at a time and do it well,” he says.
“I [learned] to prioritize. Our union has to be the priority. I wasn’t prepared to give up on her and she wasn’t either. We both wanted to fight for it.”