Before the world knew his face from Reservoir Dogs or The Sopranos, Steve Buscemi had already saved lives.
He was eighteen when he took the exam to join the New York City Fire Department. He served four years at Engine Company 55, in the heart of Little Italy, before hanging up his helmet and pursuing acting.
Fifteen years passed. Buscemi was already a recognizable face in film, someone who could walk down any street in Manhattan and make people turn to look at him. But when the city was wounded, he did not think about the cameras.
He returned to his old firehouse. His former colleagues, somewhat wary at first, let him join them. He worked twelve-hour shifts alongside them, amid the rubble, searching for what could no longer be found.
“I felt privileged to be able to be there and help”, he said years later. Five firefighters from his former firehouse did not return that night. One was his friend.
Buscemi never stopped being a firefighter. He just changed shifts.
