Actress Thorne playing with fire on 'Rescue Me'

Los Angeles Times

HOLLYWOOD — If Callie Thorne’s Sheila Keefe had a theme song, it would be Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

The ode to flaming desire animates Thorne’s character, who returns for her fifth season of FX’s “Rescue Me,” the testosterone-fueled dramedy about a dedicated crew of emotionally flawed New York firefighters.

And, as always, her character, the perpetually high-strung widow of a firefighter killed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is carrying a torch for her deceased husband’s cousin, firefighter Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary).

Although much of the action of the series surrounds Gavin and his colleagues, Thorne, 39, has proved to be a reliable touchstone of the series, often stealing scenes from Leary and other cast members.

Her character is known for throwing tantrums, flaunting her sexuality and relentlessly pursuing Tommy with various schemes that inevitably backfire.

“Sheila is really my alter ego,” Thorne said. “She does everything I wish I could do but can’t. I don’t want to go to jail.”

Her single-mother character is no shrinking violet. She once raped an unconscious Tommy after slipping him a potion containing a knockout drug and Viagra. In another instance, she took on a lesbian lover — in hopes of making Tommy jealous — but wound up in an abusive relationship in which she was battered and beaten. Then there was the time she briefly kidnapped Tommy’s newborn baby and named the infant “Elvis.”

This season, her character seeks help from a drama coach-therapist who tries to free her of her obsession with Tommy.

“Sheila has been off the rails from the get-go,” Thorne added. “There’s no boundaries, so it’s a tremendous amount of fun to play.”

Peter Tolan, who co-created the drama with Leary, said that, even though “Rescue Me” is man-centric (Andrea Roth, who plays Tommy’s estranged wife, Janet, is the only other female in the core cast), Thorne is a central part of the drama’s vibe.

“There’s nothing we’ve thrown at Callie that she can’t handle. Her character is our Lady Macbeth, the constant troublemaker.”

Added Leary, “I stopped being politically correct about this about six months ago. We just shot for 15 months making 22 new episodes, and at one point I turned to Peter and said, ‘Callie is the greatest actress I have ever worked with.’ She’s this great dramatic actress, and she’s also a great comedic actress.”