Patrick Dempsey
Patrick DempseyReuters

After Sandra Oh, actor Patrick Dempsey's might be gearing up to bid adieu to ABC's hit medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," after nearly a decade on the show.

In a recent interview with the Portland Press Herald, the actor said that his departure would come sooner than expected, sparking speculations that he might leave the show much before his contract expires. 

Both Dempsey and lead actress Ellen Pompeo are under contract for season 12, and the show hasn't even reached halfway through season 11. Dempsey has been a regular on the show since its 2005 debut.

"Acting [in Grey's Anatomy] has been a blessing for me and has allowed me to do all this," he told the media outlet. "But it's transitional for me right now...I'm looking forward to the next thing, creatively."

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"I do want to act (after 'Grey's Anatomy'), but I might take a break and go race and travel first. I haven't found a piece of material I want to do yet. I'm dyslexic, and I don't have the attention span to read about a lot of these things, but I can download a documentary or a book on tape, and I love that."

As fans of "Grey's Anatomy" know, Dempsey's character Derek Shepherd hit rock bottom on Thursday's episode, when he failed to support his sister during her tough time.

"I don't know who I am anymore. I tried to make the right choices…and I'm miserable and I don't know what to do with it. All's I do is hurt people…I just can't get control of it," Derek told his sister Amelia on Thursday's "Can We Start Again Please?"

His relationship with Meredith too has also been on shaky ground, and fans have been speculating for a while that the two might finally stop working on their marriage and go separate ways.

It is not immediately known how showrunner Shonda Rimes is going to end Derek's storyline anytime soon, but theories suggest that she would either kill his character off, or have him divorce Meredith and move to Boston. If Ellen Pompeo too leaves the show, then the two could be shown riding off into the sunset together.