Roth: Fox and Leary Deserve Emmy Love for 'Rescue Me'

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What a thrill when the phone rings in the PopEater offices and it's 'Rescue Me' star Andrea Roth on the line. Roth plays the sexy, feisty and defiant Janet Gavin, the on-again off-again wife of Denis Leary's Tommy Gavin on the hit FX drama. This season, she finds herself involved with a paraplegic played by Michael J. Fox in a guest role worthy of all the hype it's received. Roth talked to us about co-starring with Fox, his gift for naughty improv, why she thinks the show has been ignored by Emmy and why she didn't think twice about participating in a controversial scene that's still debated years after it aired.

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Tell us about working with Michael J. Fox this season. "That was such an incredible experience. That man has such a strength of spirit. I heard Michael took ['Rescue Me'] right when he was finished writing 'Always Looking Up,' which is about being positive and doing things. Obviously he needs to have medication to control the shaking and he was playing a character who was partially paralyzed, which is such a tough thing where it's not something he can control physically. He's so lovely and warm and fun and down to Earth and his energy made it seem like he'd been there all along.

The funny thing about working with Michael and Denis, the two books they've just written 'Always Looking Up' and Denis' 'Why We Suck.' Denis is always known for the edgy stuff, but Michael's known for lighter sitcom fare or romantic comedies. Now he's doing this and being brought into Denis' deeply disturbed, dysfunctional world. I'm glad he write the book on positivity first."

So many scenes on the show feel so natural or improvised? Is that really the case? Denis and Peter [Tolan] give us free reign with that sort of stuff. When Fox hurled himself off of the couch or talks about part of his anatomy being ready for action, that was completely an ad-lib.

Watch the Amazing Michael J. Fox in the Scene Roth's Referencing Above

It's such a different kind of role for Fox. "He's going to bring in a different audience to us, but I was always wondering if it's going to scare a different audience. But in terms of him as an actor, it's wonderful for people to see. I don't think there's any question he'll be nominated for an Emmy."

Are you ever surprised with what the show is able to get away with? You've been a part of more risque moments than we can count. "There was the whole "rape" scene. That made it to CNN for crying out loud. Women were discussing it on 'The View.' Truly I know for certain that Denis nor Peter wrote it with the intention of being sensationalistic. It just comes to their mind, they write and think nothing of it. Even when we were shooting it, I remember reading it and going "wow, if this is done incorrectly it will be highly implausible." We shot it, it was great and suddenly this storm started happening about that. And it honestly didn't cross my mind it would be controversial. I think maybe because I'm so used to living in the dark, dysfunctional Denis/Peter world, it is seemingly more normal. These characters, it does seem true for them so it doesn't always seem shocking.

But Denis was on 'Inside the Actor's Studio' last week. They showed a scene from season 2 where I'm grabbing him between his legs and he's basically choking me and pulling my hair. I hadn't seen it in forever and watching it, it was a very dangerous, intense scene. I don't realize in the moment how risque things are until afterwards going "they let us do THAT?"

Are you surprised that the show hasn't received more Emmy or Golden Globe love? "I wish [Denis] was recognized more for Emmy awards. You don't get an Emmy for this, but he's writing the show, he's acting in it, he's living and breathing it. Not an untrue word comes out of his mouth. Let alone that he's able to bring such charisma, sexuality and danger to the part. I hope that especially this year that he's recognized for that. I wonder if that's a numbers thing. The following that we have are, thank goodness, crazily obsessed die hard fans. But a lot of people just also have not seen it. To be able to compete with that is tough if you don't have the numbers --- if you're not on a Lost."

Does Denis get his proper due for being one of the sexiest men on TV? "I do a lot of flying and every single female behind the airline counters says "I love your show ... Oh my God, I love Denis Leary." I can tell you of all the people working in the airline industry, Denis' sexuality is not going unnoticed or unsung. That guy has more charisma in his pinkie than most people do overall, it's not really fair. He has that raw sexuality, a combination of danger and charisma. A perfect blend of magic that he has."

What have you been working on since Season 5 wrapped? "I just finished a movie. I worked with a 1600 pound bear. He's normally 1900 pounds but they woke him up from hibernation to do the movie. Which is a little scary. While it makes him a little slower, it makes him a lot hungrier. I was the only one allowed in the electrocuted area with the bear and it's pretty much why I took the part. That was pure fun other than I suffered hypothermia being thrown in glacial lakes in Vancouver one degree below freezing. What I'll do to work with a bear."

Last question: Do you think Tommy and Janet destined to be together? "That's the million dollar question. I don't even know. They have that crazy chemical bond between the two of them they can't break away from, yet they don't have enough psychological skills to keep it together. It's really really tough. Of course I know how the end of this season ends. I can you that we will fall in a wonder about making an attempt again and of course our characters will always mess that up."

Catch Andrea Roth every Tuesday at 10PM on 'Rescue Me' on FX and watch for her appearing in the thriller 'The Skeptic' with Tim Daly and Zoe Saldana in theaters later this year.

Warning: Adult Content Watch the Controversial 'Sparks' Episode, Featuring "The Scene"

2009-05-07 09:30:40

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