10 Questions for Denis Leary

By Tim Morrison

Has working on Recount changed your opinion of the political process? James Bellamy TITUSVILLE, FLA.

No. I think it just sort of intensified what I already believed in. You have to vote. You lessen the chances of, one, a recount happening again and, two, another Recount movie being made if you vote.

Have you ever considered going into politics? Jeroen Grouls THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS

No. They wouldn't want me. I don't think they'd like my skinny-jeans squad. If I'm President, there are going to be government vans that drive around and pick up people who shouldn't be wearing certain clothing. Talk about lack of civil rights--I'm sorry, I'm pulling you right off the street, and we're giving you clothes that you're going to be O.K. in. I don't know if the country is ready for it yet.

What feedback has the FDNY given about your portrayal of the department in Rescue Me? Annie Kalotschke, TUXEDO, N.Y.

Some of the guys were angry about how honest we were. Now it's gone from, "How dare you let our secrets out like that," to "Hey, I've got a couple great ideas about stuff that happened at my firehouse that you could put on the show."

How much of you can we see in your character in Rescue Me? Patricia Loureiro, LISBON

Well, I think there are things that I can certainly identify with. We do fake firefighting on the show--we use real flame and smoke--and you realize, this is hard enough to do when you're pretending to do it. Certainly there are moments I can identify with, [but] these guys live in such a strange place.

Your character on Rescue Me quit smoking. Were you actually trying to quit yourself? Barbara Bean, DORCHESTER, MASS.

I did once, for a long time. It was really easy, but I didn't stick to it for various reasons.

Small-town fire companies are suffering from a dearth of volunteers. What's your response? Domenick Moore BLOOMSBURG, PA.

I think that that's true across the country. Because [volunteering] still requires almost the same amount of time, only you're not getting paid for it. I think a lot of people take it for granted that the volunteer firefighters that came to their house were not actually paid at all. It's the thing I've always said about firefighters: they're the last guys on the totem pole.

Did you want to be a fireman as a child? Catherine Pilie COVINGTON, LA.

No, I wanted to be left wing for the Boston Bruins. And then my backup to that was to be a star outfielder for the Boston Red Sox. Neither one of those worked out, so, thank God, I ended up doing this.

How different is Denis Leary the dad from Denis Leary the comic? Maria Hess WILMINGTON, DEL.

I hope a lot different. It's hard to be funny with teenagers because, ultimately, they just want what they want, and you're just a human ATM and a chauffeur. You're not cool.

With the third Ice Age movie coming soon, what's it like voicing an animated creature? Abdulnasir Imam ABUJA, NIGERIA

It's fun. It's weird because Ray [Romano] and John Leguizamo and myself, we all go back pretty far, and now all three of us are in this big animated franchise. Believe me, that would not have been predicted 20 years ago.

What is the one thing in life that you would like to do or accomplish and why? Adrian Wilhelmsen, HOUSTON

I'd love to play in a Red Sox game. It would be so awesome to actually walk out on the field and play, just for one inning. I'd also steal everything I could get my hands on in the clubhouse, which is why they won't let me do it.

VIDEO AT TIME.COM To watch a video interview with Denis Leary and to subscribe to the 10 Questions podcast on iTunes, go to time.com/10questions