W Toil know who
V Denis Leary is.
JL Even if you
don’t think you
know him — have
faith. You know him.
You know him lx*« auv* foi the last srvrt
al months Ins Marlboro smokm last
talkin', in voiii l.in jumpin' attitude has
he rn plastered .n low vmu I \ se tern
tidin M I \ to David I etteitnan to Nike
eommrreials to we ll. Irt s just sas hr s
lx*en buss
\nd if you want to know whs this
olde«HlU*<ii< j*»et song writn aitoi Lithri
< >f two IS getting all of this atte ntion, wt got
tWl» we HI Is I Ol va " 1 WO WS *11 Is
It s a e ate h iihl asr that has made* the
native llostoman one ol thr most sought
aftn ( om< els spin d<N tots m rre ml seats
\nd with thtrr movies in the- making, a
hook on thr maike t and a (1) in thr
te e old stotrs, Denis I ears is showing no
signs«*1 sle >wing down
“I don t think v»»ui e arm « an move te*>
last otur it ge ts going,** viss la*at\. sitting
111 an retiring liMtm at MIN stuehos "Non
|iist si* »w it e|* »wn te» the* i ight pae r
I ran has found that a whitlwmd pae «•
suits his eaten Ve» ( urr tor ( arurt the'
Itnok. the- she»w and thr < l > air piosieimg
a swe ll feu lean to ride as he* attempt* to
i is4 • alxisr thr n tie* as ge >ldrti t bile I of M I \
to thr < te st ot popularity as a pop it on
"It might lx* a pe ill tie alls i oil re t bat k
Lull." br savs. “It mas lx* a stroke of bn k
that jx-oplr are* finalls getting ste k of tfie
same shit I've been sic k and tired of all
along "
Hut people airn’l Me k ol 1 Veins lean —
at least tie it vet lake most overnight wits.*
lions, the gap-toothed. tousled towhead
with a Mai 11 m u o etei nails dene bed m bis
AU I want is CINDY CRAWFORD, okay?
House of Style 24 hours a
day. Ho MTV News unless
It's news about CINDY.”
lell hand has tx-rn honing his st hti« k for
mini’ than 15 years Hut things didn't get
intrresting until M 1 V . the spawning
ground ill I .> minute i clehrilrrs, liist aireti
his anti polltu al i orret mess fun I hesr
tiO-sri onii monologues, duelled by
cohort led Demme. ate filled \siih attai ks
mi |etn l ewis and a sisieral lunging hu
(andv < ’.rawfnrd.
Hut it is not a longing that leary wuriKs
will dampen his careri ilmih "Being so
i loseIy eon net led to the (indy thing
hasn't been a problem vet." he sa\s "I
think one of the reasons it broke so big was
because she liked it Soon after that
i ante out. she did a pal mb of it One thing
kind ol led the i ithei
I hese things aie all leeding an exiep
tional career lor an intensely private man
l ears, despite his meteoric rise, shows
signs ol the talent needed to pull olf entet
K\ liill Hm k t. //irO/ninri. Northern hssrv (<uiiiiimiit\ C -*»11«-t*« •
taininrnt iiiplr thirat. Hr * drirnnmrd
imi to l.tll into the l‘.iuK Shorr ahw* <>i an
MI\ nightman* \n<l though hi* upturn
mg nmvic- mlr* aren't Itkrlv to win him an
don't > apiuli/r Mtnplv on
his i iy.lictlr miiiAmy i austn ssitiu ism
I hr last thing hr wants is In lircomr the
next Dennis tlir Mrnatr
"I didn't do a tnovir in i hat at trihr
sass * 1 ti.it (an idtrn hr a big mistake,
doing your hist mnsir in charat trr 1 was
an at tot Indore doing comedy, so I was
aware of that jjotholr All that i an ha|>|>rn
is that sou yrt stui k in that one ^ harai trr.
and that's all people want to see *
As a smarmy Harry (lontutk, )t
kinnalirr in l.oadrd W'rapon I, a 1)1-A
a^ent rx maiinc in (iuimirn, a former
Iii.ij'ti it ti^uv |mh m i lii
the Sandltil .uni jii ill .1
in.ii.tl |m•lit r < aplam in l\mi i IhrMan'.
Iran i\ latiru hing .111 uwiull mi Aim-m an
audirntrs dial Mill lour dirm lo Mand up
and yr morr dun dial i ra/v smoking guv
"Ac ling iv nnn ti moir diiik nit than the
loinrdv," hr vivs "Whrli you’re not play
ing vourwll. it's not yout own wordy; il
doesn't c omr is easily ’
(iiinrdv tainr *> easily that whllr studv
ini' theater .11 hmrivin ( ollegr ill Boston
in tin- mill '70s I ran helped found the
( omeils Woikxhop (Ileal ly, ihr i lass
loom exprrirnecs didn’t form 1 eats A
i arm path
"What did 1 dn in 11illrgr in prrpater"
hr mulls iivri ihr (pirsiion. " \ lot ■ if din*;
abuse. It was a ihllrirni time."
And when his high wore off. I ran,
along will) ihr lest id Ins generation,
found himself in a time when realm was
v ailei than am illuginthu rd trip
His ha/s collegiate years did provide
hiin with a great deal of fodder for his pre
sent endeavors Hr sass hr sjirni a lot ol
time messing around lire i its and v tewing
around in bands Mush is a talent lie sa\s
served him well duting his in rut Iotas
into thr Vf /Vf nf>Ju^f(nl aieua "I ’seulwuss
Ix-rti in hands.' lie suss, "When wr taped
the f 'npluggrd thing, I plaved with the
rxai t same guvs I used to plus with "
< H i nurse, with tills plethora of ping-i Ls.
there is a danger ol Dents overdose, and thr
trstlrss iomit is tr< oru iling that with the
|xttenlialls latal unit ept ol o\errx|x istirr
'It s clinic nit: I II tell sou that muc h.”
I ran admits. "I think that’s whs the tour is
olds two weeks '
More drugs... and then just a bit
off rock n roll before we
pass out and wake up to
find Reagan Is president”
Soft-spoken ami intelligent, l.eary in
person is little of his caustii (lalholn stage
[h ivim.i He savs people often exjici t him
constantly to he pissed off in maniac
sjiced-lalket mode “Some people ex|H-c I
it,” he saw 'Hut that’s because it’s easiet
lot them to understand. I he irony is that
some only concentrate on the smoking
as|H-c t. vs hen its ac mails only a small pan
ol the character.”
I can admits to manulat turing au-cfulh
parts ol his on-stage peisnna 'I’ve orga
nized it. exaggerated and tweaked it a bit,"
he says. “It is me, but it’s not me.”
Still, at Ins mrr Icatv n the archetype
Bostonian: bitter, caustic and critical and
bustling with a full sc hedule. And we gut
two words for him physical exhaustion.
“What I need is test. Hut I’m not going
to gel any lot about loui to live months ot
so.” 0