His advocacy eventually extended beyond his own experience.
He became involved with efforts to support firefighters and first responders, including organizations focused on mental-health services.
That continued involvement is important because it shows that his connection to the FDNY did not end when he stopped working at Ground Zero.
A Former Firefighter, Not a Hollywood Hero
There is a temptation to turn stories like this into celebrity mythology.
The famous actor puts on an old uniform.
He returns to the ruins.
He works beside ordinary firefighters.
It sounds almost like a movie.
But the real story is more complicated and, in some ways, more meaningful.
Buscemi was not playing a firefighter.
He had actually been one.
He did not need to learn what a firehouse was.
He did not need to be taught the culture.
He already knew it.
He had experienced the training, the shifts, the exhaustion, the jokes, the hierarchy, and the sense of brotherhood.
His colleagues did not have to explain why they were there.
They were there because they were firefighters.
And so was he, once again.
That is why the story is best understood not as a Hollywood celebrity volunteering at a disaster, but as a former member of the FDNY returning to his professional family during an extraordinary crisis.
The Meaning of “Never Forget”
More than two decades after September 11, Buscemi has continued to speak about the importance of remembering not only the people who died that day but also those who survived and lived with the consequences.
In his 2021 TIME essay, he wrote about the continuing health problems experienced by first responders and the importance of supporting people who were exposed to the conditions at Ground Zero. He also discussed the need for mental-health resources for firefighters.
His perspective is significant because it moves the story beyond the immediate heroism of September 2001.
Remembering September 11 is not only about remembering the moment the towers fell.
It is also about remembering what happened afterward.
Thousands of people spent days, weeks, and months working at the site.
Some became sick.
Some developed psychological problems.
Some struggled with survivor's guilt.
Some died years later from illnesses associated with their exposure.
Others carried the memories for the rest of their lives.
Buscemi's own experience lasted only several days, but those days left a lasting mark.
As he told CBS News, the experience remains with him.
Why the Story Still Resonates
Steve Buscemi's return to Engine 55 after September 11 is memorable because it reveals a side of his life that existed long before his fame.
It reminds us that people can leave a profession without completely leaving the identity that profession gave them.
Buscemi became an actor, but the years he spent as a firefighter remained part of who he was.
When his former colleagues needed help, he returned.
He did not return to perform.
He did not return to promote a film.
He did not return to make himself the story.
He returned because he knew the people working there, understood the work, and believed he could contribute.
On September 12, 2001, he put on equipment he had not worn professionally in years and went back to the place where his old life and his new life suddenly collided.
For approximately five days, he worked alongside firefighters at Ground Zero.
He moved debris.
He joined bucket brigades.
He searched.
He listened.
He grieved.
And eventually, he went home.
But the experience did not stay at Ground Zero.
It followed him.
In the years that followed, Buscemi continued to talk about the firefighters who died, the responders who became sick, and the psychological wounds that remained long after the physical destruction had been cleared away.
That may be the most important part of his story.
September 11 did not end when the fires were extinguished or when the rubble was removed.
For many people who were there, the event became part of the rest of their lives.
Steve Buscemi was a Hollywood actor by then, but for a few days in September 2001, he returned to the identity that had come before the fame.
He went back to Engine 55.
He went back to his colleagues.
And he went back to work.
Not as a celebrity.
Not as a movie character.
But as a former firefighter who still felt connected to the men he had once served beside.
That is why the story has endured for more than two decades. It is not simply a story about what a famous actor did after September 11.
It is a story about belonging, memory, loyalty, grief, and the enduring bonds formed in a firehouse.
And it is a reminder that sometimes the most important parts of a person's identity are the ones that existed long before the rest of the world learned their name.