Dylan McDermott: Maggie Q is "the whole thing, the real deal."

On the CBS drama series "Stalker," Dylan McDermott investigates relationships gone horribly wrong with his crime fighting boss played by Maggie Q. McDermott, who may be more than just co-star to Q, said "she's instantly the most beautiful person in the room."

"[Maggie] is really one of the smartest people you ever meet," McDermott said Monday on "CBS This Morning." "She has incredible questions, she's so precise. She's not only beautiful and smart but she's also so generous as well. She's the whole thing, the real deal."

While the Golden Globe-winning actor did not confirm "E! News'" report that he and co-star Maggie Q are engaged, McDermott's words mirrored warm sentiments Q shared on "CBS This Morning" in October.

"He's the dreamiest, I have to say. Not just talented and not just accomplished, but also the kindest and sort of most generous costar one can have," Q said.

On the psychological thriller, McDermott stars alongside Q as the mysterious Det. Jack Larsen, investigating cases of cyber harassment and romantic fixation.

It's dark themes like those that led McDermott to make some changes in his own life.

"I got a little bit more paranoid because there is so much bad stuff out there in the world so I did install some cameras in my house and I have to say it's a good thing to do," McDermott said. "I check my phone, I can see the cameras. I think it's just important to be safe and to protect yourself."

While he currently stars as the leading man in the show, success didn't come easy. After the shooting death of his mother when McDermott was just 5 years old, he and his 6-month-old sister moved in with their grandmother. He told CBS "Sunday Morning" senior correspondent Rita Braver they lived on $100 a week.

Later in life, he waited tables at his father's New York City saloon where brushes with fame sparked acting dreams.

"John [Belushi] would come in every Sunday to have brunch and I would wait on him and clean his table," McDermott said. "It's the best thing in the world when you're an actor and you wait on actors because you get to see what they're really like."

At the time, Belushi was making headlines as a founding member of "Saturday Night Live."

"It's funny because this whole thing of when you link up pleasure with something, it's always a great thing," McDermott said. "Most times with actors you're like, 'Oh it's too hard, actors don't work and you starve,' but when I saw John I was like, 'Oh that's what I want because people treated him so well. He was really like royalty at that point."

He also credits his stepmother for his success. When McDermott was 15 years old, his father married " The Vagina Monologues" playwright Eve Ensler.

"Really in many ways I'm her Frankenstein. I came to her ... as a very troubled kid and she turned my life around." McDermott said. "She suggested that I become an actor and walked me to acting school and she saw something in me that I never saw in myself. I always say you just need that one person to believe in you and you can do anything."