When an actor makes as profound an impression as Robert Patrick did in James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, it can be a make or break proposition. Robert Patrick, the workman-like and always dependable performer who so frighteningly played the T-1000 in James Cameron’s visionary film, has carved out a career somewhere between those two extremes; working steadily and memorably in almost 60 films and a little TV show named "The X Files."

Today he’s with me to chat about his role as a ‘stoic’ member of a close-knit Baltimore firehouse in the new film Ladder 49, a film that exemplifies the working-class heroes who risk their lives each day and who, as Patrick so correctly puts it, are the ‘backbone of America.’

Lee Shoquist, ReelMovieCritic: Ladder 49 really celebrates the idea of the blue-collar worker who is the unsung hero in this country.

Robert Patrick: I grew up around a lot of blue-collar guys. My dad was a white-collar guy. Blue collar guys—there’s just something a little bit more there. They deal with things on an every day level where it’s a physical thing. There’s a certain lifestyle that kind of goes with it. I think it makes them more of the everyman, if you will. They’re really sort of the backbone of America. And it’s fun to do a blue-collar guy because you don’t have to worry about certain things you would normally worry about if you were playing a lawyer, and the way you carry yourself, if that makes sense.

I think there’s also a certain swagger that these firefighters have that’s really interesting to me. You could see in the way they carried themselves, like our lieutenant who was our advisor. We all looked at him the first day of the academy. Every one of us was like, ‘That dude is the shit, right there.’ You could just tell. Cock of the head, the helmet, the way he was lighting the cigarettes—he was a dude, you know? You knew that he had that swagger from the years of experience he had on the department, and he’d seen a lot of things that you and I don’t normally get to see on a daily basis. It’s almost like fighter pilots. They have that sort of, ‘I can go zero to 3000 feet in one jerk of the stick.’ They just have a confidence that comes with them. I don’t mean it as an arrogant thing.

My (character), Lenny Richter, was very much like that in a sense that he was a veteran guy. He had been around; he didn’t have aspirations to go really any further, that we know of. He was a firefighter and that’s really all he wanted to be. He was an acting lieutenant at some point. That’s cool. He probably started when John Travolta’s character started. John’s character went the other way and became a captain, and then later on to a chief. And I think he’s content with that. There are a lot of guys who like working with their hands and doing a very physical kind of job, in a less cerebral environment. It was a lot of fun.

LS: I would imagine that even though it’s a team and a family in the firehouse, everyone has to have different ways to deal with some of the things they see. Are there any guys who function like loners or have more reserve?

RP: In the Baltimore City Fire Department they call those guys stoics: ‘That guy is a stoic over there. Be careful with him. Just watch him. He’s not really that friendly when he comes in to the shift.’ They’re kind of legendary guys within the department. They’ve got stories. They come with this whole gravity of firefighting history with him. I don’t think the stoics would be as impolite to the every day citizen. It’s an inter-departmental thing.

Within the fire department there are all different levels of bravery. They’re all brave. It’s like Joaquin’s character in the movie. He is selfless and wants to throw himself in there and will do anything to try and save people, to the point of disappointing his wife when he declines a desk job. What makes these guys like that? It’s the intriguing thing. Why do they do that? Why do they just give themselves for this community? That’s still a mystery. I still don’t understand it.

There was a guy I met in Baltimore that I based my character on named Marty Loftus. His nickname is ‘The Snake.’ He’s a cool guy. He’s just like me—a father with two kids, but he doesn’t like being very gregarious and outgoing, he’s not super friendly with everybody, he’s got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, he’s a brawler.

So the interesting thing is to take the blue-collar guy and (explore) what the reasons are that make him a super hero, because these guys are. We all know that. We’re all away in post-9/11. We all sort of stood back and had appreciation. Now we realize they do that on a daily basis. And it’s your brother, your neighbor next door, your local fire department.

LS: There’s a very real sense of humor and sometimes hijinks that exist in this environment that is surprising.

RP: It was funny when we got to the fire department. I’m a fairly rough and tumble Hollywood guy, biker… I think I’ve seen some things. But when you get in there and you listen to their humor, you realize how much more hard-edged it is because they deal with life and death on a daily basis. They see great tragedy. They see things that you haven’t seen. It’s a whole different spectrum. So it is their life. So there’s this different, hardened, gritty quality that they have. You’re sort of in awe of it; intimidated by it to a certain degree. It would behoove you to go down to a firehouse one day and listen to them and see the environment they’re in, and they see what it’s like when they go attack a fire and have to overhaul it, and maybe it’s a fatality fire and it’s grisly, and then they take it back. So the humor and everything goes with it.

LS: I live next door to a fire station and I walk past every morning and have to say I have no idea what goes on in there. It’s like their own private enclave.

RP: It is their world. I’ve done ride-alongs with the New York City Police when I did Copland, and they call themselves a ‘gang of blue’ and they sort of do realize that they are not citizens and they are their own little gang. In L.A., the LAPD, the guys that I rode along with for a movie said, ‘Everybody is an a*****e outside this car until they prove themselves different.’ New York is a little more community and L.A. is more territorial.

I think maybe as a public we’re a little intimidated by these guys. Joaquin and I were just doing a movie in Memphis—Walk the Line—I play his daddy and he’s Johnny Cash. Now we’re vets from firefighting so we feel entitled to walk into firehouses. We walked into a firehouse in Memphis. The gong goes off and they were looking at us because we didn’t leave and they said, ‘Guys, we gotta go.’

I know in L.A. at least, my daughter’s school, they go to the firehouse. Once you get in there, they are more than willing to tell you all about their equipment, what they do, safety for you at home, especially for kids. They’re really cool.

Up until this big piracy thing, I remember the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences- I used to give them my videos and DVDs so they’d have movies to watch. I’d just donate them to my local firehouse. Of course, I’d make sure that my house is always going to be standing! I can’t do that anymore. As Oprah said today, maybe this will make people want to go hug a firefighter or bake them some cookies or something.

LS: How did starring in Terminator 2 impact your career? It’s still a phenomenal piece of work.

RP: It’s still the biggest thing I’m recognized with. It’s an amazing movie. I’m very proud of what I did. It goes with me everywhere. I do roles, I try to alter the way I look, immerse myself in them. The most frustrating thing I have with my career is I don’t think people realize that the guy that played the T-1000 is this other guy you see in the other movies. I don’t think there’s a connection there. I’m not like John Travolta where you know my name. And yet there are people that do know my name and my body of work. But as a general rule, I’ve had people say to me, ‘I really loved that Terminator thing and what you did. Are you still in the movie business?’ There are different degrees of it. I’ve got my fair share of fans out there.

LS: You’ve got a funny quote online where you say something to the effect of having made 60 films, and all but five are ‘crap.’

RP: It’s true. I’ve never financially had the blessing to be able to really deny work. I support my wife and my kids and I work. I’m an actor. That’s what I do. I don’t have the luxury to sit back and choose what I do. I kind of go where I’m kicked, and hope that I get good opportunities. I’m a little frustrated to a certain degree that there are some films that I did that I think are really good and no one ever saw. I did a really beautiful love story were I was a romantic lead with Diane Lane, Sam Shepherd and Diane Keaton, and no one saw it. It’s called The Only Thrill. It was one of my favorite things I ever did. (Diane Lane) is gorgeous. Josh Brolin is a lucky man. Diane’s awesome. What a great actress, too. I’ve got no complaints, really. A few frustrations but no complaints.

LS: You’ve made two films now with Joaquin Phoenix. What can you tell me about him?

RP: I just love the way he works. He really immerses himself in the role and he’s a really gracious guy on the set. He’s the biggest cheerleader we have while we’re making the movie. He sets a really high standard. I’ve been fortunate. I’ve worked with some really great people, and that’s when it’s the most fun because you elevate the game, I think. He’s just a great guy. I really love him. He’s like a little brother to me.

LS: How close were you to actual danger in the film?

RP: It’s real fire. There are no computer-generated images. This is not a Terminator fire. Our fire in Terminator was real, but this is a real… That’s one reason why we had to do the degree of training that we had to do. Because we had to really be able to handle what was going on, and we were going to be thrown into those situations.

LS: How did Jay sort of prepare you for that? It’s a little beyond the scope of what’s normally expected of an actor in any role, right?

RP: He said, ‘I really want you guys to train hard. I want you to really get in there. I want you to be able to do this, and I expect it of you.’ That’s kind of the way we all got hired. He hired me off his gut. He assembled these guys, and none of us backed out. Every one of us went through the training and overcame our own personal fears. There were some guys who were terrified of heights. Joaquin was terrified to go down the f***ing fire pole.

There was another actor, Kevin Chapman, who could do that but couldn’t do the six-story repelling thing. It was amazing because here’s this actor who is terrified—he’s going to climb these six stories on this extension ladder, get on this building and then repel down. And he volunteered first because he knew that the only way he was going to be able to do this movie is if he overcame his fear. He was the bravest motherf***er I ever saw as he went over the edge of this building. We were all looking him and he’s scared s***less. He was praying, just going down, just seeing him, and he made it all the way down. It was pretty neat. We were all overcoming these kinds of things.