Derek Jeter may be the last person a loyal “Rescue Me” viewer would expect to see in a promo for the series, but the New York Yankee makes a striking appearance as himself in a montage of images that track the lives of two heroes, one fictional, one real.
In “Cradle to Brave,” Tommy Gavin is the anti-hero, the mischievous kid who steps too close to the flame at a family barbecue. Derek Jeter is the iconic hero, the kid who, according to FX spokesperson John Solberg, “does things right every step of the way.”
The commercial shows these two very different boys becoming men, with Gavin training to be a fireman and an actor playing Jeter jogging in Staten Island (with an eerie glimpse of the Twin Towers in the background). Eventually, we see a clip of the real Jeter driving home after a game. He slows his car down in front of a brownstone where Gavin and his fellow firefighters have just put out a blaze.
Says Solberg, “He looks at them in awe. And realizes that firefighters are the real heroes.”
The ad pays tribute to the New York City’s firefighters. Jeter, who will not appear in the series, committed to the project when FX brass approached his agent with the concept of the dual heroes in one city and filmed his scenes in about three hours.
Solberg says that the shortstop has worked with the FDNY before and was cool with the project.
“Rescue Me” ends its run next year, in time for 10th anniversary of 9/11.