Donnie Wahlberg & Sonequa Martin-Green Talk Boston Blue

Donnie Wahlberg and Sonequa Martin-Green talk to World Screen about their new CBS series Boston Blue, which had its world premiere screening at MIPCOM last night.

From CBS Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Television and on offer from Paramount Global Content Distribution, the series is a spin-off of the successful CBS procedural Blue Bloods, which ran for a whopping 14 seasons. The new series takes Wahlberg’s Blue Bloods character, Danny Reagan, from New York to Boston, where he joins the local force and is partnered with Martin-Green’s Lena Silver, who also hails from a prominent law enforcement family.

TV DRAMA: Donnie, when did you first become involved in the spin-off? Was it being set in your hometown of Boston always part of the plan?
WAHLBERG: For years, I walked with this duality. I had the thought that Blue Bloods would never end, and also the thought that when it does, it would be fun to play Danny Reagan as a fish out of water somewhere. Of course, I was thinking of places like Texas, L.A. or Vegas, somewhere like that. When the show ended, I was very passionate about trying to keep Blue Bloods on the air. The fans wanted it to keep going. The cast wanted it to keep going. I thought for a minute that someone was going to call and say, “Hey, bring it over to our network,” or, “Let’s do it on Netflix.” That didn’t happen. I got a call from [CBS] about the idea of doing the fish-out-of-water exploration. And they said, What do you think about Boston? They hooked me like a fish! Not only because I’m from Boston, but because being from Boston and being a New Yorker for 14 years, I learned this dynamic of the way New Yorkers tease Bostonians and the whole competitive dynamic that happens. I thought it would be fun to explore. It’s challenging to go to Boston and act like I don’t like the city when I like it so much! It started with a great script. It started with two great writers who listened to my thoughts and ideas and were very understanding, welcoming and inviting. Everything made it feel more right. Meeting Sonequa for the first time, I knew she got it in a way that informs us as the producers. She’s informing us on this character in ways that we couldn’t even have thought of.

TV DRAMA: Sonequa, you’ve had quite the eclectic career over the last few years, from zombies to the final frontier! What appealed to you about the show?
MARTIN-GREEN: God has really blessed me. It’s shocking to me when I look at the path that I’ve been on. I did not think that I would land in another huge franchise! Similar to what Donnie was saying, there were just those big moments of “yes.” When I first saw the script, I could immediately feel the heart of it. I could feel the richness. Here you have a family-oriented story that carries those themes from Blue Bloods—as Donnie has said, faith, family and tradition. It was screaming from the page. And then seeing this family put faith first, and seeing a multi-faith family. It just spoke to me. Also, knowing what Blue Bloods did, what it accomplished. We’re talking about pure storytelling. That is my passion. Those things got me. Danny and Lena see each other. There’s a bridge created between the two of them. There was such a kinship that developed between Donnie and me on the first Zoom we all had. It’s also on the page. And I appreciated that because what you usually see is the conflict. You see the bickering. The fight, fight, fight, fight until we bond. These two come from the same place, even though they couldn’t be more different. You have this white man and this Black woman, but they both come from these law enforcement families, and they understand each other in an intangible way. We all felt like family on that Zoom call.

TV DRAMA: How does the dynamic between these two characters evolve over the course of the season?
WAHLBERG: It’s evolving every day. In [our first scene together] in the episode, Anthony Hemingway, the director, kept coming over and saying, You guys are getting along too much! You’re in an alley, climbing a fence and she’s trying to stop you; you can’t act like you’re already friends!

We couldn’t be at that point in the partnership yet, but there could be a knowing, a sense. Danny’s in a new world, and he’s a guy who keeps his cards close to the vest. But he’s curious. He sees something in Lena that, for whatever reason, inspires him to ask questions. And it’s not in a romantic way. It’s in a friendship way, a partnership way. If you talk to cops, they will tell you their partners become the closest people in their lives. They will build that bond over time. It comes in the evolution of who we know Danny as. He’s starting to change. He is in a new world. He’s not just treating the new world like New York. As a New Yorker, he may not have the most respect for Boston, but as a cop and as a human being, he has a lot of respect for this family, these cops and this world. It’s putting me as an actor in a unique position. As characters, it puts Danny and Lena in a unique position. She plays her cards close to the vest, too, but something about this guy is able to ask questions in a way that maybe nobody has. And it creates a dynamic that I think is fascinating, allowing us to learn about Danny in a new way and understand Lena from the inside out.

TV DRAMA: I was moved by that dinner scene in the opening episode; two very different yet similar families sharing their opposing opinions with respect. How important is it, in polarized times, for audiences to see people engaging with each other in that way?
WAHLBERG: In Blue Bloods, [the characters] were all related; they all came from the same family, but everyone had a unique perspective at the table. Some people at the table leaned more to the right, while others leaned more to the left. Some people leaned into their faith; some people did not. Everyone would argue and debate many topics. The thing was, a lot of times, everyone at that table looked the same. With this show, everyone doesn’t look the same. But they’re having similar conversations. Families talk about issues. Families can sit at a table and not agree on every single thing. Everyone has a unique perspective, and there’s a place for everyone to give voice to their thoughts, knowing that they can do so and it’s going to be OK. We can disagree, but we can still love and care for each other. That meant a lot to many people on Blue Bloods, and I think it will mean a lot to people on this show as well. Danny and Lena, as much as they get each other right out of the gate, don’t always agree at the table. They come right back to their friendship.
MARTIN-GREEN: [Television] affects how we think. It challenges our paradigms. That’s what stories do. We’re wired for stories because they change us and they impact us.

TV DRAMA: Donnie, tell us about your EP hat and being at the top of the call sheet. What sort of environment did you want to foster with your other cast members?
WAHLBERG: To me, number ten on the call sheet is just as important as number one, and the caterer and the craft ser­vice people—it all counts. We’re all getting to have this amazing opportunity. Every role is critical to the success of any endeavor. We’re all there, showing up to work. I understand what it means. I’ve seen other actors respect whatever that position is. I’ve seen other actors not respect it. For the New Kids On The Block, I’m the creative director. I do a lot of the planning and strategizing for the band, as well as what we do long-term. Creatively, I’m there for six months building the show, but I long for the moment when I can just be a New Kid. I can’t worry about which light didn’t come on. I can’t worry about the timing not being perfect with the special effects. I’ll make a note, but I want to be a New Kid now. I want to have fun. I want to connect with the audience. I try to be mindful of the two hats. Sometimes, they converge in a moment. But generally speaking, I want to show up and be an actor. I try to pick my spots of when to be a producer and when to chime in. To me, a good producer, director or leader trusts people to do their job. It’s not my job to start policing everybody and looking over their shoulder. Yes, we can lend thoughts and ideas, but at some point, you have to let people do their work and trust that they’re going to do their best. And if they do, then I’ve done my best.

Sonequa’s done it. It helps me to have her there. She’s capable of doing everything that I’m doing, and she’s also being a leader in her own right by supporting me when I need it and stepping up when we need it. This opportunity is a real blessing. I want to make the most of it, not only as an actor and someone in this industry, but also as a human being. Hopefully, I’m just respecting my coworkers and supporting all of them. We all feel like we’re putting our best foot forward. The rest is up to the audience.