Patrick Dempsey Being Crowned SMA ‘Is Like Pouring Gasoline on the McDreamy Fire,’ Jokes Eli Roth (Exclusive)

Eli Roth’s latest film stars the sexiest man alive.

Director Roth, 51, recently spoke with PEOPLE about his new film Thanksgivingholiday-themed slasher starring Patrick Dempsey as the sheriff of Plymouth, Massachusetts who deals with a series of Thanksgiving-themed murders that occur as the town’s residents prepare to celebrate the holiday.

“I think he just put McDreamy to bed, but now this is like pouring gasoline on McDreamy’s fire,” Roth tells PEOPLE, joking about Dempsey’s long-running role as Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd on the television series Grey’s Anatomy.

“I think Patrick is at an interesting place in his career,” adds the director. “He’s in the Paul Newman moment he’s in Thanksgivinghe works Ferrari. He’s such an interesting actor and he can do whatever he wants.”

Roth didn’t know Dempsey would be crowned the People’s Sexiest Man Alive until his title was unveiled last Tuesday at Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Nonetheless, the director is excited to playfully rib Dempsey about the revelation.

Every (Mc)dreamy photo from Patrick Dempsey’s Sexiest Man Alive cover shoot

Patrick Dempsey in ‘Thanksgiving’.

Pief Weyman / TriStar Pictures / Courtesy of the Everett Collection

“Whenever he sits on a chair, it’s going to be the sexiest chair on set. If he uses a fork, it’s going to be the sexiest fork,” jokes Roth. “I can only add the word sexiest to everything, but Patrick, one thing I love about him — he’s so down-to-earth. He has such a good sense of humor. He’s the first to joke about it, and the truth is that’s what makes him so sexy .”

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Gina Gershon and Patrick Dempsey in ‘Thanksgiving’.

Pief Weyman / TriStar Pictures / Courtesy of the Everett Collection

Dempsey’s role in Thanksgiving is definitely un-sexy. His character, Sheriff Newlon, is tasked with investigating a serial killer dressed as a Pilgrim who begins terrorizing the citizens of Plymouth and posting his murders on social media under the alias John Carver, the first governor of the 17th century British colony of Plymouth where the the first Thanksgiving.

“Every Boston movie is about some kind of crime syndicate or a fixer or a blue collar worker, and I just wanted to see Massholes in a slasher movie,” Roth says of Thanksgivingwhich he says has been on his mind since he was a kid growing up in Massachusetts.

The film initially debuted as a spoof trailer Roth and co-writer Jeff Rendell created that ran in theaters during Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 double feature. Grindhouse. They spent years developing it into a feature-length project.

Addison Rae and Patrick Dempsey take on a holiday-themed serial killer in Groesome Thanksgiving Trailer

Carter Smith

True to Roth’s Boston-area roots, the director found authentic New England accents among the slasher’s cast members, including Dempsey, who was born in Lewiston, Maine.

“When he reached out to me, he said, ‘Do you want me to have a slight New England accent?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m from there, so don’t do an accent unless you really can,'” Roth recalls of Dempsey’s insistence that he might do a childhood accent for the film. “He says, ‘No, I grew up with it. This is my real accent.’ ”

“The accent in the movie is the accent that Patrick Dempsey grew up with,” adds Roth. “He had to lose her because of [the 1987 teen comedy] Can’t Buy Me Love and for his acting career. But when you talk to Patrick, he has this light New England accent. It’s pretty wicked.”

Thanksgiving in theaters on Friday.

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Source: HIS Education