Diane Farr Talks ‘Rescue Me’ 20th Anniversary and How the Role Followed Her to ‘Fire Country’ (Exclusive)

Diane Farr may be known as Sharon Leone on Fire Country now, but the actress previously starred on a different firefighter show. Back in 2004, Farr appeared on the FX dramedy Rescue Me for the first two seasons as FDNY firefighter Laura Miles, and she spoke to PopCulture.com about the series, which just celebrated its 20^th anniversary in July.

Created by Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, Rescue Me centered on the personal and professional lives of a group of New York City firefighters. The show ran for seven seasons and starred an ensemble cast that also included Leary, Michael Lombardi, James McCaffrey, Jack McGee, Andrea Roth, Callie Thorne, and Dean Winters, among others.

Even though it’s been 20 years, Farr still remembers what it was like filming Rescue Me. “I remember how exciting it was to be in New York,” she recalled. “The first show that I did with Denis Leary was The Job. And at the time, there were more spots on the Yankees than there were TV jobs in New York City. It was really, like, electrifying to get to do it. In the beginning years of Rescue Me, it really felt like all art all the time. Denis and Peter Tolan were writing all the episodes themselves. It was so thrilling. We were all so involved in all parts of the process.”

Farr was only on the first two seasons, but it’s because “after two years, I wanted to have babies, and it was not the right show to have babies on,” she said. “Like, there was so much smoke. Again, we were wearing this tank. It was breaking my back, and I knew I couldn’t do it. So, I left, and then I got engaged. I was already living with my partner, and I was really afraid when I left that I would never get to work on an art job that had as much teeth as that one. And I didn’t realize that I was gonna have three kids in a year and a half. It was gonna be my art job for 15 years. It was all thrilling. It was a really exciting time in my career.”

Fast forward two decades and Diane Farr is now a firefighter on yet another firefighter show, Fire Country. While the two shows are different from each other, Farr said in the beginning, “it really felt like that character grew up into this character as a firefighter. That character was single and dating another firefighter, which is not Sharon’s story.”

I think Sharon and Vince got together as soon as they met as probies, but it did really feel like a female in a firehouse that was mostly a male-dominated field could grow up and sort of take the reins if she got to use her voice well,” Farr continued. “So, it really did feel like one character grew into the other. Strangely, there’s a third time I played a smoke jumper. That movie I shot for, like, four months. I only have two uncles, and they’re both firefighters. It almost feels like there’s something in my story that this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Fire Country is now in its third season with no end in sight as the show continues to dominate and expand into a franchise. It is fun to think about Laura growing up into Sharon, even if their backstories are a tad different. Fans can see for themselves how the two shows compare, with Rescue Me streaming on Hulu and Fire Country streaming on Paramount+. New episodes of the CBS drama air on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET.