Bob D'Amico/ABC Click photo for larger image. Listen In Listen to Patricia Sheridan's interview with Eric Dane. To download the file to your computer, right click on the above link and select "Save Target As ..." After the file has finished downloading, double-click on the file to listen to the audio.

Known as "McSteamy" 34-year-old Eric Dane, who plays Dr. Mark Sloan, is the hottest new edition to the cast of ABC's award-winning drama "Grey's Anatomy." Temporarily trading in the scalpel for the keyboard, he plays a speechwriter about to marry the conservative governor's daughter in the A&E movie "Wedding Wars," co-starring John Stamos (who plays his gay brother). It airs at 9 p.m. next Monday. He and wife, Rebecca Gayheart, also an actress, live in Los Angeles.

Q: You have a brother. If your brother were gay, how would you react?

A: I don't think I'd have any kind of reaction of any significance. You know, he's my brother no matter what. Certainly not [like] the character in the movie. However, I feel like the character in the movie's reaction was a little bit undecided. You know? I don't think at the core of him, he really had any bias toward his brother's sexual orientation.

Q: In another interview your wife said you are "sick of the McSteamy thing."

A: No, she didn't. There's no way she ever said that. I'm gonna put her on the phone with you right now.

Q: OK, but I think it was on "Entertainment Tonight."

A: Oh, I don't think she'd, I'm definitely not, you know, I haven't been called it long enough to be sick of it. I'm sure it was maybe taken out of context, then maybe she said something. I don't know.

Q: Are you at all concerned about the "McSteamy" moniker sticking?

A: Ahhhhh, no. Thus far it never brought any sort of negative anything along with it. You know, we could go through and we could find a hundred parallels in other careers where they've transcended nicknames they've had in certain roles. Right now this is where I'm at, and I've been called a lot worse than "McSteamy." Trust me.

Q: Being married to an actress, how would it change the dynamic of the marriage if her career eclipsed yours?

A: I don't think it would change the dynamic at all. I'm hoping her career will eclipse mine.

Q: So you can retire?

A: Yeah, more time off.

Q: Is it true you like to cook?

A: I do like to cook. But I only cook a few things, but those few things I do really well. I make a [great] omelet. I make really good chicken soup, sort of from scratch. I don't make my own stock. I just use a base like a chicken stock, but everything else, all the ingredients, I do on my own.

Q: Who does the cooking for the holidays?

A: Well, we're going to her sister's house in Atlanta and her family, who lives in Kentucky, is going to meet us in Atlanta. I'm sure that between her mother and her sister and, you know, myself and my brother-in-law, we're gonna have, there's gonna be like 12 of us under one roof, so I'm sure everybody will have a hand in something.

Q: Eric, do you have a working preference? Movies or television?

A: You know, television is a lot of fun. It's faster-paced. The schedule is really desirable, I guess. But as far as films go, and I've only done a couple, film is like a definitive beginning, middle and end. You know your character's arch. As an actor you can do more with it. In television it's unpredictable. You are sort of at the mercy of the writers and where they decide to take your character. You have anywhere from one to 10 seasons of television to sort of explore and change, you know what I'm saying?

Q: Yes, so is that easier or more challenging?

A:It can be both, but I think there's a pitfall there. The pitfall there is if you get into the easier aspect of it. Then you get stuck in, sort of, a pattern of playing the same note.

Q: Kind of a one dimensional character?

A: A one-trick pony and then that character becomes one dimensional and you just become that guy. Then you start to develop bad habits. I think that bleeds into your career when you go to do other stuff.

Q: How important is confidence to good acting?

A: I think it's important. It depends on the actor. You know some of the greatest actors on the planet are the most insecure people. Now I don't know if that insecurity necessarily equates to a lack of confidence. Some people are just very shy individuals. You give them a character to play and a script, and you put them in front of a camera or on a stage, and they just go.

Q: Where do you fit in that equation?

A: Somewhere in the middle. Not shy, but not overly confident. I'm just as confident as I need to be and I'm just as insecure as I need to be.