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 SAFE 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 EMPATHY "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’re crying because they’re so sad, and then the minute after that, they’re laughing their a--es off." "Rescue Me" stars Leary as Tommy Gavin, a veteran New York City firefighter struggling with alcoholism, family turmoil and survivor’s guilt in the aftermath of the Sept.

11 terrorist attacks .

The supporting cast includes Andrea Roth, Michael Lombardi, Steven Pasquale, Daniel Sunjata, John Scurti and Jack McGee.

Leary and Tolan didn't have to hunt for information.

FDNY members and firefighting consultants gave the show's creators plenty of real-life firehouse stories to draw from.

"We had so much information on a daily basis, not just comedically, I’m talking about dramatically," Leary said.