No four words sum up the temporal nature of life and time better than the ancient proverb “This too shall pass”, and riding the waves of both hardship and success is something actor Dylan McDermott of The Practice and American Horror Story fame is all too familiar with.
In town for Montblanc’s “Beauty of a Second” exhibition last week, we had a glimpse at the insightful and reflective disposition of the 51-year-old — a vast difference from the selfish and manipulative Dr Ben Harmon he plays in American Horror Story— as he talked about what time means to him, growing up in poverty, his fascination with people and his love for acting.
“Time is all we have. When you think about how you’ve spent your time in life, the happy moments and the sad, it’s really all just time. I’m obsessed with time, it’s forever in my consciousness.”, McDermott says in response to what the exhibition’s title means to him.
That simple and elegant answer is very much like the man himself. Clad in a black shirt, charcoal suit and sporting a Montblanc Timewriter Chronograph on the wrist, his famous blue eyes peek out from behind a faceful of beard — preparation for his next role, he says.
We manage not to lose ourselves in those mesmerising peepers as we chat with the star:
herworldPLUS: What have you been doing in your time in Singapore?
Dylan McDermott: It’s my first time here so I’ve been taking a tour of the city and was at Gardens by the Bay. That’s how we’re all going to live eventually; it felt like the future.
HWP: Which is your favourite watch from the “Beauty of a Second” exhibition?
DM: The Timewriter II Chronographe Bi-Frequence 1,000 is one of the most beautiful watches I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I would hesitate to call it a watch, to me it’s a piece of art.
HWP: Clothes, accessories, shoes... What do you spend the most on?
DM: I’m not a person who is too impressed by things. The funny thing about life is whatever you don’t really desire, you get and whatever you chase, you don’t get. We grew up in poverty; my grandmother raised me and we had very little. I always feel guilty about having things because there is a tremendous amount of suffering that exists in the world, so I would say that the things that matter most to me are people.
HWP: Your nude scenes in American Horror Story have attracted quite a bit of attention. What goes through your mind when you’re filming them?
DM: The worst thing you can do as an actor is to think. You don’t want to think, you want to be. So I try to be in the moment, but usually it’s just a bunch of guys watching anyway.
HWP: Any creepy incidences that have happened on the set of American Horror 
Story?
DM: Every second is a creepy instance. I’ll be playing another character in season two which is vastly different from my current one; you’re going to be shocked.
HWP: Anything you’ve done you’d like to burn all copies of?
DM: [chuckles] I don’t live with regret and I learn from mistakes. I may not be as happy with some things as others, but you have to fail to succeed. We all have different journeys; some people get there very early in life, but mine has been slow and steady. I’ve not skyrocketed or plummeted but I think that’s a better journey for me. I’ve stayed the course and had time to find myself rather than burning out too soon.
HWP: Who would you like the opportunity to work with and why?
DM: I love Asian cinema and I’m a huge Gong Li fan; she’s so beautiful and talented. There are so many other great actors, but I would love to work with Gong Li in particular.
HWP: What is acting to you?
DM: Acting is like being in a relationship. It changes all the time but underneath it all is love. For me there has always been a love of acting, that has never changed. I’ve been frustrated, exasperated, passionate, in love... I always promised myself I’d stop acting if I didn’t love it anymore, but I have never stopped loving it.
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Dylan McDermott in Singapore for Mont Blanc
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