In the movie "The King of Staten Island," actor Steve Buscemi plays a firefighter who mentors Pete Davidson's character, whose firefighter dad died in the line of duty.
Buscemi—like costar Davidson, whose real-life FDNY firefighter father died on 9/11—isn't a stranger to the fire service. He was a member of the FDNY's Ladder 55 for about four years, beginning in 1980, and helped at Ground Zero following Sept. 11.
In a video interview, the veteran actor and director told the A.V. Club that his experience as a firefighter gives him a glimpse into what first responders are going through in the COVD-19 era.
"The job is, you know, tough enough, and their stress level, I think, has risen because that they're going to bring, you know, COVID back to their families," he said. "So a lot of these guys and women are either sleeping in their cars or staying somewhere else, and it's really disrupted their family life."
Buscemi has been working with Brooklyn's Friends of Firefighters, which provides free counseling, mental health and other services to firefighters and their families.
"I know what they're going through, and just, you know, it makes me respect them even more," he told the A.V. Club.
