Q 6

PLAYBOY: You played a fire department arson investigator opposite police detective Robert De Niro in Fifteen Minutes. Was this a stretch, considering you're a policeman's son and there's a rivalry between the police and fire departments in New York City?

Edward Burns: Yeah. My dad's a retired cop, my uncle's a retired cop. I have two cousins currently on the job and another cousin who's retired. They like to break my balls about it, that I went over to the other side. A lot of the police and fire guys grew up together. It's like rival high schools.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: Just what does Edward Burns see through those Irish eyes?

Edward Burns: I was brought up in a neighborhood that was half Irish and half Italian. You always wore the fact that you were Irish like a badge of honor. I grew up with friends whose moms and dads were off the boat from Ireland. They spoke with brogues. They loved corned beef and cabbage and soda bread and the Clancy Brothers, and they forced their daughters to take Irish jig classes. But we were American kids. We loved the Mets and the Yankees and rock and roll. Then, as you got older, you started to identify with being Irish a little more. Paddy's Day is a huge deal. Rooting for Notre Dame is a really big part of being New York Irish. Who knows what that's about, but it's big. The majority of Irish immigrants came here during the famine. They were the utter dregs of society. They couldn't get work: "Irish need not apply." A hundred years later, JFK is in the White House. There's that pride factor. There's the clannish thing, the cultural thing, and there's the Catholic thing as well. And there's that gift of the gab. That I'm a writer probably comes from the blood pumping through my veins.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: How has Entertainment Tonight managed to stay on the air despite losing your services as a gofer?

Edward Burns: I figured after I left it would fold. Nobody could get coffee like I could. I was the low man on the totem pole, fetching coffee, lugging the lights from shoot to shoot, driving the company van through the city. Every block is a battle against cabs, and it was so much fun. We got into a couple of fender benders. They didn't want to deal with the insurance and we didn't either, so you'd have a minor collision and both look the other way and keep on going. I miss that part of the job.

Q 9

PLAYBOY: You put in several years working odd jobs and living in a run-down New York apartment. Is paying dues vastly overrated?

Edward Burns: I am totally nostalgic about those lean years. You can't help romanticizing walking up four flights to a one-room apartment with no hot water, sitting at your old computer, banging away at that screenplay, keeping your fingers crossed. You've got so much hope and so much anger because nobody is giving you the break you deserve. My girlfriend at the time worked in a bakery, but at the end of the day there weren't chicken sandwiches or lasagna left over. The only things left were tiramisu and brownies. Those are the things she would bring home, and since we had no money, that's what we would eat. I put on a good 15, 20 pounds. I was a very bitter guy.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: Once and for all, explain New York attitude to the rest of the country.

Edward Burns: When you walk down the street in New York, you're going to run into the whole world. Everyone is represented here, and whether you love them or hate them, I don't think anybody would have it any other way. Because of that we have a totally different perspective on things. You go to most cities and there are a lot of white people. New York has always been a big immigrant city. My grandparents came over from Ireland. You pride yourself on the fact that we--and when I say we, I mean everybody, first generation, second or fourth--came over here with nothing, figured it out and now are kicking ass. There's a pride that comes with that. We are New Yorkers. We're tougher than the rest of you.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: Sundance. Is it less pure than it used to be?

Edward Burns: People who concern themselves with that horseshit are focusing on the wrong thing. I know some people knock Sundance as just a showcase for filmmakers who want to break into Hollywood. But Redford and that festival give so many people an opportunity to show their work when all the other festivals turn them away. They can screen that film for all those chic Hollywood assholes everyone despises. But, hey, they're the ones who are going to give you your career and the opportunity to make another film. You need them, so stop bitching about them. I hope guys with no connections will continue to get in there. Audiences ought to be thankful they're getting to see these films. Do we really need any more TV commercial directors directing features? Granted, visually, they're beautiful. Storywise? You know.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: Robert Redford served as a producer on two of your films. Do you stay in touch?

Edward Burns: Once a year we'll touch base, but that's about it. I don't know exactly how much Redford himself had to do with it, but McMullen was rejected by over 25 film festivals and accepted into Sundance. He came to see the film twice at the festival. When I got home to New York, there was a message on my machine from him congratulating us on winning the grand jury prize. He gave me his home number and said if I ever had any problems or questions on anything, I should feel free to give him a call and he'd see if he could guide me down the right path. At that time in my career I needed a mentor, and he filled that role. I'm sure he's now doing the same thing for someone who was at Sundance last year.