Patrick Dempsey Spontaneously Shaves His Head for DIY Buzz Cut

Patrick Dempsey is closing out 2022 by making another drastic change to his hair. The former Grey’s Anatomy star gave himself a buzz cut, which will help his hair grow back to its natural color after he had to dye it blonde for a role. Dempsey’s wife, hairstylist Jillian Dempsey, described the new look as a beauty “rebirth” for the actor.

“Change is good,” Jillian captioned a black and white video of Demsey taking a razor to his hair. “Have you ever buzzed your hair? Watch [Dempsey] use clippers to eliminate the dyed hair from a character role and start fresh! P.S. My Roadie was standing by to help give it some edge for styling.”

The haircut was a “spurt-of-the-moment” move, Jillian told PEOPLE. It was necessary because dyeing his hair had left “invisible” roots that were difficult to manage. “Patrick recently dyed his hair platinum for a project, and even though he colored his hair back, it wasn’t the same natural ‘salt-and-pepper’ color that we all know and love,” Jillian said. The “fresh and short” rebirth will help his color grow back naturally.

Even though Jillian is an expert hairstylist, she stayed calm while watching her husband give himself a haircut. However, she did some styling work to make sure the Disenchanted star looked good. She said that a buzz cut is “worth trying out” for many others. “I always say you should go blonde or buzz your head at least once in your life,” she said.

Dempsey shocked fans when he showed up to the D23 Expo sporting an icy blonde hair color. It was for his upcoming movie, Ferrari, in which he plays race car driver Piero Taruffi. During a stop on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in November, Dempsey said he relied on Jillian to help him and the movie’s crew get the hair color perfect.

“I was constantly texting my wife,” Dempsey told Jimmy Kimmel. “I was like, is this the right direction we’re going in? Because it was yellow. And she’s like, no it needs a toner, it needs other things, and I’m like, OK, well let me talk to the hair people.” It took about six hours to get the color right, he said, adding that the bleach job was like “frying” his skull. “I don’t know how women – people – do it,” Dempsey joked.

Dempsey and Jillian met in 1994 when Dempsey was a client at her hair salon. They married in 1999 and are parents to three children, Talula, 20, Sullivan, 15, and Darby, 15. During their nearly three decades together, Dempsey has been “fearless” about changing up his hair.

“Patrick has a fearless nature and allows me to do just about anything with his hair,” Jillian told PEOPLE. “We treat his hair like it’s a sculpture and have a lot of fun trying new things in between projects. Just this past Halloween, before we dyed his hair back from platinum, he let me dye it an orange-y color.”