Dylan McDermott Looks Back at His 40-Year Career, Working With Matthew Perry (Exclusive)

Dylan McDermott is looking back on his iconic 40-year career fondly.

Sitting down with ET for a retrospective on some of his best projects throughout his life, the 62-year-old FBI: Most Wanted actor opened up about finding his way in Hollywood and the blessing that has been a prosperous and decade-spanning occupation, which started in 1986 with Hamburger Hill, also starring Don Cheadle and Courtney B. Vance.

He told ET that he still remembers it like it was yesterday and that includes the rigorous audition process, which ended in a surprising offer.

"I was shocked I got the part. It was an open call, right over here, two blocks away, as a matter of fact. And they called me back 7 times," McDermott said. "I was like, 'There’s no way they're gonna cast me,' and all of a sudden, I got the call and I was -- I was floored. I could not believe it."

As for what advice he would give to the young actor just starting out on his first film -- McDermott was just 25 at the time of filming Hamburger Hill -- he says he would advise patience and perseverance as the job is more of a marathon than a sprint.

"It never ends, you never really truly arrive, you know? 'Cause there’s always another mountain to climb. There’s no pun intended, another hill to climb. So I would tell that young actor [to] relax into it because it will never end. This is the advance of your soul, if you will -- that it's a journey," he continued.

During the discussion, the veteran actor addressed the laundry list of films and television shows he has appeared in over the years, and finally answered the question all of the fans have wanted to know for decades: which project had the best food on set?

"This one was like a four-star restaurant," he said of Steel Magnolias, the film he starred in alongside Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton, Sally Field and Shirley MaClaine. "I just couldn't believe the catering and the craft service on this on this film."

In all seriousness, the actor said he could not have been luckier to have scored such a "coveted role" so early on in his film career and that it was the start of a new era of Hollywood for him. In the movie, McDermott plays Jackson Latcherie, the fiancé and later husband of Roberts' character.

"It was the biggest stars in the world [that] were on this movie, again, I was shocked that I got this role. This was a coveted role and it was really -- this was the true Hollywood movie," he said of the heartbreaking movie. "It was a whirlwind to get the role, to go down to Louisiana to shoot it, all these incredible stars in the movie -- Herbert Ross, Ray Stark producing it, you know, I was pinching myself."

McDermott has had an incredible slate of co-stars throughout his career, including the late Matthew Perry, whom he starred in Three to Tango with alongside Neve Campbell. Talking about the late Friends actor, The Practice alum said Perry -- who died in October 2023 at the age of 54 -- was one of a kind.

"Yeah, I mean, what a sweetheart – Matthew," the American Horror Story star said. "So funny. Really understood comedy like nobody else. I mean, his timing was impeccable. He really understood what was funny in a scene, what was the rhythm in this scene. He would break that down and say, 'That's funny. That's not funny.' So he just had that sense of comedy like none other."

Aside from Three to Tango, the actor starred in rom-coms like Jersey Girl and The Mistress of Spices. Although McDermott says he has been out of that genre for some time now, he says he would certainly be open to venturing back into a love story yet again.

"I would," McDermott told ET of returning to rom-coms. "Yeah, I think that we sort of need those movies more than ever. The world is such a dark place that it's nice to have a little bit of relief. So I like them. They're fun."

FBI: Most Wanted premieres its fifth season on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.

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