Euphoria fans want Patrick Dempsey to play adult Derek after Grey's Anatomy nod

26 January 2022, 17:33

Watch the Euphoria season 2, episode 4 trailer

By Katie Louise Smith

Euphoria introduced viewers to Cal's best friend Derek, and fans immediately noticed the Grey's Anatomy coincidence.

Ever since Euphoria season 2 episode 3 aired, the fandom has been obSESSed with Young Cal and his best friend/teenage love Derek.

In this week's episode (Jan 23), viewers were introduced to young Cal Jacobs, and learned about what he was like before he became the terrible character we know today. Young Cal (played by Elias Kacavas) and Derek (Henry Eikenberry) took centre stage at the start of the episode, but their story was cut short. Now fans want to see more of Derek in the show, including the adult version of the character.

Cal actor Eric Dane has already said that he'd want to see someone like Brad Pitt play the older version of Derek, if he were to ever reappear in Cal's life, but fans of Grey's Anatomy have other ideas...

Cal's teenage best friend is called Derek, right? You know who else had a best friend called Derek? Eric Dane's iconic Grey's Anatomy character, Dr. Mark Sloan.

The coincidence – (or maybe it was a reference?!) – did not go unnoticed by the fans, who all shared several tweets and TikTok videos noting the name of Dane's on-screen bestie. Or as we later find out, his on-screen romantic interest. (That plot detail never happened in Grey's, though.)

One fan wrote: "Cal’s best friend’s name being Derek though?! Sam Levinson knew what he was doing".

As we know from the episode, Cal ends up with Marsha and loses all contact with Derek after graduation. We don't find out what happens to Derek, where he is now or what he went on to do in life.

Those missing pieces of the storyline have now led fans to start theorising and fan casting actors who could play the older version of Derek, if he was to pop back up in Cal's life.

Agreeing with Eric Dane's comments, many fans have already mentioned how much Henry Eikenberry, who played young Derek, looks like a young Brad Pitt. (I mean, it's actually uncanny.)

But thanks to that Grey's reference, some people are absolutely living for the idea of Patrick Dempsey appearing as Derek. Some are even hilariously "terrifed".

For now, the fan casting of adult Derek remains exactly that – a fan casting. There's currently no confirmation that Derek will even reappear in the show, but seeing as there's been an overwhelmingly positive response to Cal and Derek's teenage storyline, it's possible that Euphoria may wish to explore that storyline further in the future.

Who would you want to see portray the adult version of Derek in Euphoria?

Read more about Euphoria here:

• Euphoria actor explains how explicit sex scene with Eric Dane was filmed
• Euphoria's "toilet guy" actor confirms that it was his real penis in full frontal scene
• How old are Fez and Lexi in Euphoria? Angus Cloud clarifies Fez's age
• Euphoria season 3: Release date, cast, spoilers and news about the HBO series

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