He plays Tommy Gavin, a recovering alcoholic, father and New York City firefighter searching for redemption in FX's Rescue Me. Denis Leary, who lost his cousin to a fire in 1999, created the series as a love letter to the men and women who put their lives on the line for us every day.


Q:
What's it like writing for a show like this?   

A: I say this all the time, and it's really true. You can have good writing, but a great actor will make it feel and sound like great writing. You can have great writing, and mediocre actors will make it feel mediocre. Without the actors, you have nothing. The main six to 10 characters on this show are extraordinary actors. We only write two episodes at a time, so we're capable of seeing how the actors kind of play with each other. So it's very organic. Therefore, we kind of fly by the seat of our pants because we don't have the scripts done way in advance. But I think that kind of energy keeps everybody going. It's been very much the case this year. The actors have been having a lot of fun in front of the cameras. ... Hopefully that will reflect in the episodes.  

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