Actor and comedian Adam Ferrara, who played a New York City Fire Department battalion chief on the hit FX series “Rescue Me,” has expressed his admiration for firefighters across the country.
“We are in troubled times right now—everyone’s divided, people aren’t getting along. And when people are faced with fear and uncertainty, they will find like-minded people. They will band together, they‘ll label an enemy, and they’ll attack because that’s acting out of fear,” the actor told the publication.
“Firefighters run into burning buildings to save people they don’t even know,” he continued. “That’s acting out of courage. That’s what I admire about firefighters.”
Ferrara began his acting career with the 1991 movie “Fire: Trapped on the 37th Floor,” which is about a 1988 fire that erupted in downtown Los Angeles, California, at the First Interstate Tower, now known as the Aon Center.
Although he didn’t play a firefighter in the action film, Ferrara is no stranger to portraying characters in uniform.
Most recently, the former “Top Gear” host played a detective in a 2023 episode of “FBI.” In 2018, he landed a role as an officer with the New York Police Department in the crime drama “Deception” and appeared as an officer in the legal drama “The Good Fight.”
The actor played a cop for the New Jersey State Police, named Sergeant Howard, in the 2009 film “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” alongside actor Kevin James, who is best known for his role on the CBS sitcom “The King of Queens.”
In the early aughts, Ferrara played Detective Tommy Manetti on the television series “The Job” before going on to land the part of a young detective in the 2004 thriller “Noise.”
The television series followed veteran New York City firefighter Tommy Gavin, played by actor Denis Leary, who saw ghosts of people from his past, such as victims of fires that he was unable to save as well. The character would also see visions of firefighters who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attacks, including his cousin, Jimmy Keefe, portrayed by the late James McCaffrey, who died in December 2023 at the age of 65 after battling multiple myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer.
The stand-up comic has maintained strong relationships with fire departments nationwide despite more than 10 years since Ferrara’s appearance on the FX comedy-drama.
“When I tour as a comedian, I like to stop at all the firehouses and just, you know, shake hands, thank ‘em for their service and just say hello to the guys; the men and women that work there,” he told Fox News, adding that firefighters at the various departments he visits often ask him to sit down with them and enjoy a meal.
“The meal in the firehouse is sacred,” he explained in part. “When I’m asked to sit at that table, you know, it’s an honor for me, because I know what that means to the guys.”
Speaking with Fox News, Ferrara said he feels “at home” with firefighters. “Anytime I can give back, for what they’ve done for me, I'll do it,” he said. “And the FDIC is a great place to go.”
