Denis Leary

“I like Jesus, I mean, I think he was a good guy.”

“In addition to my cousin, there were 30 or 40 guys I grew up with who became firefighters as well. So, I've been around firefighters all my life.”

“If you do good work, it tends to stick around. People still come up to me and say, 'The Ref' is my favorite Christmas movie.'”

“I love Santa Monica and Venice because I like the beach. I have a lot of friends in that area.”

“I'd love to do another television series. I really love the writing process, and as an actor I really like how much you get to examine in television.”

“With any actor, if you know your character well enough, you'll know pretty much what he would say under any circumstance, or whatever situation might rear its head.”

“You try to - you want to fly on both sides of the political fence because that's where the - where the comedy is.”

“My biggest regret in life is that I didn't hit John Denver in the mouth while I has the chance.”

“What firefighters and people in our military and cops do is separate from what the rest of us do; basically these people say, 'I'm going to protect all these strangers.'”

“I wanted to be a hockey player. Where I grew up, the basketball courts were rarely used. I was terrible in school and actually said, 'I'm going to be a hockey player.'”

“I've always had a thing for Catwoman. Michelle Pfeiffer or Halle Berry in tight leather pants, with the boots - I'm pretty good with either one.”

“I went to school with Steven Wright, who was the shyest guy I knew, and one day someone suddenly told me that he was in a club doing standup comedy. I went down to his club and he was great. Another friend of mine, who was pretty much a thief by trade, was hosting the show. So I thought, 'If these guys can do it, then so can I.'”

“People saying, 'Life didn't turn out the way I wanted it to.' Welcome to the club. I wanted to be the starting center-fielder for the Boston Red Sox, for chrissakes!”

“There's no male Oprah.”

“The best thing about series TV is that everyone you work with is hand-picked, as compared to working on a film.”

“There are some guys I know for a fact, like Louis C.K., who always talk about how not-great of an actor he is, and he's terrific on his show. But I know Louis would play a fantastic dramatic role in something, too. He just needs somebody to grab him and say, 'Come in here and do this.'”

“It says on the back of the Nyquil box, 'May cause drowsiness.' It should say, 'Don't make any plans, OK? Kiss your family and friends good-bye.'”

“Most people don't know how underpaid and often ill-equipped urban fire departments are across North America.”

“Hockey's my favorite sport.”

“I remember 9/11; we had 'Comics Come Home' about a month after those events. That night, even the comedians were concerned. Would the audience be ready to laugh? It was a release for everyone.”