ACTOR DENNIS FRANZ DOING NOW SERIES

It does, and it validates your dreams of being recognized as a legitimate actor and a player in a big game. Honestly, on a personal level, if I said it didn’t change my life, I wouldn’t be telling the truth. How did winning four Emmys, and being nominated four other times, affect your career? I’ve been offered guest roles and I don’t even want that responsibility.

ACTOR DENNIS FRANZ DOING NOW SERIES

I get offered a lot of TV series but that work is intense and hard … and I don’t want to make that my first priority anymore.

My agents have an understanding they’re still gonna knock on my door periodically to see if there are any home runs to get me off my butt, but so far that hasn’t presented itself … though I left my options open and didn’t say I was, for sure, closing the door and not leaving it open a crack. It was hard in the beginning to always be saying no - then it got to be easier. Have you been offered any TV roles in the past 10 years? My dear friend Joe Mantegna is on “Criminal Minds” and I like all the Dick Wolf shows - “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Fire” - and I like “True Detective” a lot. Have you tuned out cop shows after all those years on “NYPD Blue”? Dennis Franz on his retirement from acting I just wanted to live an enjoyable, irresponsible, spend-time-with-my-family kind of life. Selfridge” and I miss “Boardwalk Empire” and “Mad Men.” I was a fan of “Parenthood” - I thought that was great TV that got overlooked - and I like “Homeland,” “House of Cards,” “The Americans,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Empire,” “Power” and “Nashville.” I think Matt LeBlanc has been a revelation on “Episodes.” I’m a fan of “Downton Abbey,” “Call the Midwife,” “Mr. My wife and I plan our night around it … and watch each episode more than once.

I love “Game of Thrones,” which isn’t even TV anymore, it’s so superior to everything. We’re clearly in the golden age of TV and there aren’t enough hours in the day. But I get satisfaction now by watching other people do it. I miss the creative process, that certain satisfaction at the end of a long day when you think you’ve done something well and take pride in it. I realized I’m pretty good at this and I’d like another year to think about what’s next - and during that second period of time, I sort of made my mind up that this is where I wanna be. When we finished up, I told my agents I needed a year off, and that year went by in about 10 minutes. At one point, in about the ninth season, I told Steven Bochco that if we made it to Season 12, that’s a good number. It was becoming a job, as much as I loved the work and the challenges and the creative process. What happened was, at the end of that run, I needed a break. They come with us for just about the entire summer and bring all their friends. I have three grandkids who live a block from us and I’m with them every day. So we travel and spend time with our family. Last year we went to India and Argentina and Cuba and we go to Europe a lot. We leave to go back home to California and then we’re coming out to New York City for a month to catch up on a lot of theater. We do a lot of swimming and fishing and enjoying the lake. We have a home up in north Idaho, on a lake, and we’re there all summer long. The answer? Anything he wants - including watching lots of TV.Īs I’m talking to you, I’m getting my fishing gear together … and that’s a good part of what I do now. The Post reached out to Franz, and he agreed to a rare interview in which he talks about what he’s doing these days. When the series ended its 12-year run in 2005, Franz, only 61 at the time, vanished off the Hollywood grid - and hasn’t acted since. Dennis Franz was a prime-time powerhouse on “NYPD Blue,” snaring four Emmys (and another four nominations) for his role as hot-tempered Detective Andy Sipowicz - partnered mostly with Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits) - on the long-running ABC cop drama.

Actor dennis franz doing now