Decades ago, Diane Farr hung up on her Rescue Me firefighter gear because it was too much for her to lug around. Now, she’s starring on the CBS hit series Fire Country… wearing that exact same gear in her fifties!
The Numb3rs and Roswell alum who plays Fire Country’s Sharon Leone opens up to FIRST for Women about keeping up with boys on set, her newfound freedom as a 54-year-old mother of three, and how she lets off steam with pals like Marcia Gay Harden. Plus, Farr teases what to expect for Sharon and Vince in Fire Country season 2.
Diane Farr talks prioritizing family over career
Diane Farr has never exactly left our TV screens. The actress who got her start in the 90s has popped up in series like Californication, Grey’s Anatomy, The Good Doctor, Modern Family and Two and a Half Men, but her role on Fire Country marks her grand return as a series regular.
“When I was on Numb3rs, I got pregnant with my son and then accidentally got pregnant with twins,” Farr explains to FIRST for Women. “So I had three kids in a year and a half, and was on a one-hour drama. It was the worst schedule for parenting. I had to leave. And I almost killed my career: I had a rule for 15 years: only a comedy, only in cable, only in Los Angeles.”
Once COVID lockdowns came to an end, however, Farr looked at her teenagers and realized they were all ready for action. “I loved the Fire Country pilot,” Farr recounts. “And I was like, ‘They’re big enough. They’re mad at Mom, all the time. This might actually help the cause!’”
For Farr’s first season, the family made the move together. This year, Mom finds herself on her own for the first time in over a decade. “My son is with his dad being a bachelor and the girls go to boarding school,” she says. “The idea was if I get to go away and do my job in Vancouver, they get to go somewhere fun too. Everybody’s happy.”
“And by the way, who knew there were going to be new things in your fifties?” Farr marvels. “But there are – and they just keep coming!”
Fire Country star Diane Farr on firefighting in her fifties
With Fire Country an emotional family drama about fires in Northern California, season 2 will see her character Cal Fire Division Chief Sharon moving onto the frontlines. That means Farr is carrying more weight this season – literally! Her wardrobe is often 65 pounds of gear that includes an oxygen tank, boots and helmet.
The good-natured actress is still laughing over the back-to-set photos she exchanges with So Help Me Todd star Marcia Gay Harden.
“She was working with very cute women in their 80s who were all dressed up, with pillbox hats on,” Farr sets up. “I was like, ‘Want to see my day?’ It was one in the morning. I’m with four men. They’re all three times my size. We have the same outfit on, including the tank. I am an Oompa Loompa in that outfit. We really have the opposite jobs!”
Having struggled under the weight of a similar wardrobe on Rescue Me, Farr did her best to prepare for this season.
“When I was in my thirties, doing the first show, I didn’t really exercise,” she admitted. “I was just a little genetically gifted. Now? I was like, ‘Pilates!’ I did it every day. Didn’t help. I’ve given birth to three kids. I have no pelvic floor.”
“The other night, I was on the field, standing next to Jordan Callaway (who’s 33 and plays Jake), and we were both doubled over,” Farr continued. “His back was killing. Hi, in my fifties, here! You know why athletes retire at 28? Because this hurts.”