My interview w/Denis Leary...

Full disclosure here: I am a huge Denis Leary fan and think his movie, "The Ref," is one of the funniest black comedies ever made. He played a smart-aleck thief who ends up holding a bickering couple, played brilliantly by Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis hostage on Christmas Eve.

Trust me, it's a scream.

Denis is once again appearing in a movie with Spacey: "Recount," premiering tonight on HBO. It chronicles the five weeks between the 2000 presidential election and the December Supreme Court ruling that upheld Florida's count and gave George W. Bush the White House over Al Gore.

"It's the first time I've done (a film) where it's actual real people and the real events," Denis told me recently. "We tried to make it as real as possible. It's very intense. It was intimidating because these people are all real and had all been interviewed. You want to make everything as close to what went on as possible."

The movie will give fans of Denis a chance to see him in something new since his FX series "Rescue Me" will not return to the air until April 2009 after the writers strike pushed back production.

"Shooting and writing 'Rescue Me' is like doing six movies a year so I really turn everything down because I'd rather have the time off," Denis said. "But when Kevin called me, he said, 'You've gotta read this.' It's one of those movies where we all know what happened but the reason we watch is we don't know what happened behind the scenes. It shows the process. I thought this is a good message about why you need to vote."

For "Rescue Me" fans in dire need of a fix, season four of the show is being released on DVD June 3. Denis not only stars as veteran firefighter Tommy Gavin on the drama centering on the inner workings of a New York City firehouse post-9/11, but he is also co-creator of the series and one of its writers.

Tommy's personal life is forever in turmoil and he is haunted by the memory of those he watched die on the job. Denis has earned both an Emmy and Golden Globe award nomination for his performance.

"Tommy is based on two friends of mine, a lot of the angst and turmoil and even comedy is based on what we get from these guys," he said. "The great thing about firemen, guys that stay in the job, with their life and memory bank full of grief, they are still jumping in burning buses and pulling kids out."

But I wondered how the heck Denis can play Tommy year after year. The character is an alcoholic who has had a painful split from his wife, his son was hit by a car and killed, his brother got involved with his ex-wife behind his back then was later killed, and the widow of a fellow firefighter drugs Tommy with sleeping pills and Viagra to try and get pregnant with his child.

"The good thing about 'Rescue Me' is that no matter what else is going on, there's a lot of action because they're firemen. As heavy as it might get, you know every two weeks there will be 2-3 days of stunt work. We really wear the tanks and work with real smoke and real fire. It's exciting to pretend to be a man of action. It takes your mind out of it."

"Sometimes you go to work and it's not fun. Whatever it's supposed to be, it's not. It's a nightmare and you're counting the days. It's really nice to go to work and have a really good time."

Online extras:
On attending award shows: "I don't like getting dressed up in a monkey suit. My wife gets to get dressed up in an evening gown. It doesn't bother me walking down being interviewed. I don't really give a (expletive). I got named worst dressed at one of the Emmys for wearing a black shirt with a red tie. I was in People magazine. Oh cool! That's my relationship with fashion. I have no idea. for me, it's all about the show."

The Ref: "Our whole thing was, we have to surround ourselves with the best actors possible. They wanted Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold to play the married couple. I learned the lesson that you really have to have a cast of people that allows you to do it."

Here are some clips from "The Ref" to give you a taste of why I love this movie: