Patrick Dempsey to Topline ‘Memory of a Killer’ Drama at Fox (2025)

Fox’s just-announced drama series Memory of a Killer has found its lead actor.

Patrick Dempsey has signed on to star in the series, in which he’ll play a hitman who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s just as his double life begins to collapse. The series is based on a 2003 Belgian movie that won several awards in its home country.

The role will mark a return to network television for Dempsey, who starred in Grey’s Anatomy for more than a decade. He’s coming off Dexter: Original Sin at Showtime and starred in the Italian series Devils from 2020-22, which aired on The CW in the United States.

Fox announced the order for Memory of a Killer when it released its 2025-26 schedule on Monday. It’s set to be a midseason entry at the network.

Dempsey will play Angelo Ledda, who lives a double life as a “fearsome NYC hitman and sleepy upstate Cooperstown photocopier salesman and father,” per the show’s description. “Having built and maintained a brick wall between his two worlds, Angelo has seamlessly juggled and compartmentalized for years. But now that’s all about to change — Alzheimer’s is a foe he can’t outrun, and he knows too well how this ends, as his older brother is already lost to the condition. Angelo is exceptionally resourceful and talented, the best of the best. But he’s about to be tested like never before — and now every minute counts. This is only made more difficult when he discovers that his wife’s recent death may not have been an accident. So, when someone comes after his daughter — who is pregnant — it’s clear the wall between his lives has been breached. Angelo must stop whoever’s coming for his family by searching his past hits for clues, and the list is very long. Now Angelo must hunt down his mortal enemy while continuing to carry out hits without giving away his diagnosis and still making it home in time to cook dinner for his daughter.”

Warner Bros. TV and Fox Entertainment are producing Memory of a Killer. Ed Whitmore and Tracey Malone (the BBC’s Silent Witness) executive produce with Cathy Schulman of Welle Entertainment, Arthur Sarkissian, Martin Campbell and Peter Bouckaert of Eyeworks.

Dempsey is repped by UTA, The Burstein Company and Goodman Genow.