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Actor Denis Leary is best-known these days for his starring role in Rescue Me, the popular FX drama. But he has appeared in more than 40 films. They include The Sandlot, The Ref,Dawg, Wag the Dog, and Demolition Man, and his voice-overs have enlivened such animated films as Ice Age -- he plays saber-toothed tiger Diego -- and A Bug's Life -- he's Francis, the ladybug. Well-known as a comedian (as well as a chain smoker), Leary talked to WebMD the Magazine about the secret of his long-lived marriage, what he has learned from raising children, his non-profit work, and how he stays healthy and sane in the busy world of acting.
You're the creator and co-star of FX's acclaimed drama Rescue Me, in which you play a firefighter in New York City who has post-9/11 issues ranging from alcoholism to seeing ghosts. How important is acting for your own mental health?
The tricky part of anybody's health is loving your job, and I do. My father came to this country from Ireland. He would always say to me, "You've got to wake up in the morning looking forward to what you're going to be doing all day. That's the most important part of being happy." So when I said to him, "Hey Dad, I think I want to be an actor or a writer," he looked at me and said, "Give it a shot. Hope it works out." A lot of guys, in his position, would have said, "What? Are you nuts?"
You and your wife have been married for about 20 years. What's your secret for success to a healthy, long marriage?
A sense of humor is key, and the children help; they make you forget about a lot of your own problems, because you have to focus on them. It's also a fighting spirit. You won't walk away, you're going to go right back into it. It's the same mentality that a boxer has, really: You go back into the ring for rounds 13, 14, and 15 and sudden-death overtime.
Your kids are 18 and 20. What did you learn in bringing them up?
Everything your parents tell you is true, which is that it's over before you know it. Also, there's no such thing as a cool parent, no matter who you are. Even the coolest person's children look at him or her and go, "Oh, my God, I can't believe they're wearing that. I can't believe that they just said that."
Who influenced you most when it comes to your health?
Hands down, it was my parents. They are the people who influenced me the most in every aspect of my life. In terms of health, my dad was a very active guy. My mother is 84 and she walks three miles a day.
Do you take vitamins regularly?
I have a bad shoulder from various injuries and aging over the years, so I take glucosamine and a couple of other things.
You act, write, and even sing -- and still find time to regularly do philanthropic work, including founding the Leary Firefighters Foundation, which provides fire departments with up-to-date equipment and training. What has the foundation been doing lately?
We opened up the first high-rise simulator in the history of the New York City fire department last spring. So now we have a working facility that allows firefighters to create scenarios that would occur in high-rise buildings. They're able to work with real fire and real smoke in circumstances that reflect all the standard situations they'd be in, in any building in the New York.
What's your best health habit? Your worst?
My best is hockey. It involves your entire body and your brain. My worst health habit: I probably drink too much coffee. Every six months they come out with a new thing that says coffee is beneficial to your body, so it's not a bad vice to have.
In your household, who makes the doctor's appointments?
In my profession, whenever you start a film or a television show, you have to have a physical. But in terms of the kids, let's be honest: If it were up to the dads to make doctor's appointments, there wouldn't be any doctor's appointments because there wouldn't even be any Band-aids. Every time a kid got hurt, you'd say, "Come on, suck it up, walk it off."
You're known for your stream-of-consciousness brand of comedy. Do you feel that letting it all out is good for your health?
I think spewing your venom and venting your spleen are two very good ways of getting things out of your system and off of your chest, literally and figuratively.
If you could tackle any physical task, athletic or otherwise, what would it be?
Having raised two kids without them getting too damaged, it kind of feels like my wife and I climbed Mount Everest.
What are your kids doing now?
My son is in college, and my daughter is about to go off to college. They're both terrific kids and good students. We did something right; we're not exactly sure what it is, otherwise we'd probably be writing a book about it.
Do you read for fun?
I must admit, I read every single sports book that you can imagine. Right now, I'm reading the new Willy Mays autobiography. I just finished a book about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. I've read the new Red Sox book. I'm a sports fanatic. I am the worst person at math in the history of math, but I've got every single insane baseball statistic, hockey statistic, football statistic, and basketball statistic in my head. For some reason I'm like Rain Man, only with sports.
That can come in handy.
Yes, if you're in Vegas.
With all the physicals, your health must be pretty good.
I've always played a lot of hockey. I'm very prone to hyper activities. So it's never really been a problem of mine.
Do you still smoke?
Yes, but nowhere near as much I used to. I also play a firefighter, and we use real smoke and flames on Rescue Me. So we eat a lot of smoke during the course of a shooting day.
Is there anything you do for relaxation, like knitting?
The day you see me knitting is the day that you have my permission to take those knitting needles and stab me in the neck with them. I haven't had a lot of down time. Usually I go home, I learn my lines for the next day, and maybe I do a little bit of writing, and then I go to bed.
Where you see yourself in 10 years?
Hopefully playing hockey against guys who are half my age and beating the $#!* out of them. That's my goal. I have very simple goals.
Will the last episode of Rescue Me run on Sept. 11, 2011?
It will probably be a week or two in advance. It's nice because the show started with the idea about what was going on with these fictional firefighters as a result of 9-11. So for the show to end right before the 10th anniversary is kind of apt.
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