Once and Again's Emmy Sibs

In one of this year's few Emmy surprises, Once and Again's TV siblings Sela Ward and Patrick Dempsey both received nods: She as the drama's leading lady, Lily; he for his recurring guest role as her schizophrenic brother, Aaron. "You imagine these things to happen and when they do, it's a bit surreal," Dempsey tells TV Guide Online. "I got a call from my publicist at 5:45 am, saying that I'd been nominated. It's an incredible feeling. And at that point, I'd been trying to sleep, but I had to be peeled off the roof because I was so excited!"

"I haven't spoken to Sela yet," he says. "But I've had a great time working with her. The whole process was magical and continues to be so. There was a lot of goodwill coming to me from the cast... Because of Aaron's vulnerability, I was constantly in that [off-kilter] state, since that's what I was working on. You stay focused in the character — but I didn't go around mumbling and talking to myself."

An FYI to Once and Again aficionados: Dempsey was nominated specifically for last March's "Aaron's Getting Better" episode — wherein Aaron slowly (and tragically) slipped into a delusional state at a family get-together. "I had another breakdown and was sent back to the home," he recalls. "I called Richard Kramer, the episode's writer, and thanked him for giving me the opportunity."

As for Will & Grace fans, sorry, no word on whether Dempsey will return as Will's closeted sportscaster crush. But the actor did just wrap filming on the Kevin Kline drama Palace Thief, due in theaters next year. "It's about a prep school teacher's relationship to his students over the years," he previews. "He tries to instill morals and ethics in them. Some live up to that and some fall short, so it's how that affects him as a teacher and a person." — Daniel R. Coleridge__"Insider," tvguide.com (July 23, 2001)