Denis Leary says firefighters darkest days after 9/11 helped bring hit show Rescue Me to life
Denis Leary saw grief and laughter collide inside FDNY firehouses in the devastating aftermath of 9/11 – an emotional whiplash that ultimately helped inspire "Rescue Me."That collision of heartbreak and humor would become central to "Rescue Me," with Leary drawing from the firefighters he knew and the raw moments he witnessed inside their firehouses in the months after 9/11."A lot of the guys I knew that had survived, I was spending time with them and in their firehouses as they were digging through The Pile in the fall right after 9/11," he told the New York Post."We were witnessing the grief that they were going through."TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER, HOLLYWOOD IS GIVING 9/11 THE SILENT TREATMENT, AND IT’S MAKING US LESS SAFEDenis Leary revealed that witnessing FDNY firefighters move from devastating grief to laughter after 9/11 helped inspire "Rescue Me." (Bobby Bank/WireImage)The original idea Leary was working on with writer Peter Tolan was about a firefighter killed in the line of duty, but one moment changed his mind completely."It was literally in the blink of an eye," he explained.
"We went from watching a guy come up from downtown from The Pile – they had found a friend, a piece of a friend, and so he was just overwhelmed with grief.I mean, he could barely talk.""Watching him trying to fight to talk in that firehouse kitchen was a very tough experience to watch," Leary recalled.
"Maybe 20 minutes later…all of us were laughing about something."That moment – moving from crushing grief to laughter in a matter of minutes – helped Leary envision what "Rescue Me" could become.MICHAEL KEATON SAYS 9/11 FILM ‘WORTH’ IS ABOUT EMPATHYDenis Leary drew on real-life firehouse stories and the experiences of firefighters who searched through the debris at Ground Zero.(Bobby Bank/WireImage)"We’re going to make a show where people are on the edge of their seat watching an action sequence involving fire," Leary told the outlet.
"And then the next minute they�...