From Boston to Cannes, Donnie Wahlberg and Sonequa Martin-Green are on the Cote D’Azur for the world premiere of Boston Blue, the upcoming offshoot of Blue Bloods.
Blue Bloods ran for 14 seasons and almost 300 episodes on CBS, which gives Boston Blue some big shoes to fill when it launches on the same network this fall. Continuity comes in the form of Wahlberg, who reprises his role as Danny Reagan.
Wahlberg, whose band New Kids on the Block has an ongoing Las Vegas residency, also serves as an executive producer. This time, Danny is working cases in Boston rather than New York. His new partner is Lena Silver, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, who may be new to the franchise but knows what it is like to work on a high-profile spin-off, having starred in Star Trek: Discovery. Like Danny, Lena hails from a distinguished law enforcement family, so they speak the same language.
Paramount Global Content Distribution is selling the series, which is produced by CBS Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Television. Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis — aka ‘the Brandons’ to Wahlberg and Martin-Green — are showrunnners and executive producers. Procedurals remain in demand around the world, explaining why Blue Bloods is premiering at MIPCOM, the biggest international TV market of the year. The duo told Deadline how they are honoring what went before, while serving up something new.
DEADLINE: The pilot episode covers lots of ground. You have to usher in new faces and explain Danny’s situation. Oh, and there’s also a case to solve.
DONNIE WAHLBERG: There was a lot to get in there. There is the introduction of a new family. There’s getting Danny from New York to Boston and making sure that makes sense, and establishing new characters. To me, one of the most critical parts of it was making a believable bond between Danny and Lena. We’re planting seeds. Over the lifetime of a show you can watch everything grow and evolve, but to make that super interesting right out of the gate, and do it in a way that sets it up going forward, was a big challenge.
SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: This is a character-driven story. I feel that you don’t see that a lot in this genre. And I think that is why, in the foundation of our show, we’re going to be able to have the characters evolve. We′re going to be able to get to know these people, and get to see them change.
DEADLINE: The chemistry between Danny and Lena is there from the start. There isn’t that story, which we often see, of partners that take a while to warm to one another?
MARTIN-GREEN: Something that jumped out to me on the page is that there’s a kindred spirit between these two. There are all of these parallels. They both come from these law enforcement families in a big city, they understand what that is and how that’s such a specific lifestyle. Their connection is authentic. It just sort of happens and it surprises both of them.
DEADLINE: Is that relationship important in establishing why Danny is moving from New York to Boston?
WAHLBERG: I kept saying to the Brandons, the audience is going to have trouble believing Danny would leave New York, but we’ve come up with good reasons why.
If he doesn’t gel with Lena, then why would he stay? On the page, there were jokes and one-liners and things that could be interpreted as conflict, but Sonequa’s interpretation was that they can be this way [and get along with one another] because they see something in each other. They come from similar frames. Her take was so spot-on. I said, ‘That’s the partner he would stay in Boston for.’
DEADLINE: What are the key elements from Blue Bloods that viewers will recognize in Boston Blue?
WAHLBERG: You need faith, family and tradition. Just because we move to a new city, it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist there as well, although they might be different traditions and faiths and a different family. Having played Danny Reagan for 14 years, I met so many law enforcement families from around the country of all different backgrounds and faiths, and there are so many who related to the Reagans. Hopefully they will now relate to the Silver family.
DEADLINE: That also speaks to the idea that while this is a cop show with crimes and police work, it is also a family drama.
MARTIN-GREEN: I love that it is actually a family drama and the backdrop is law enforcement. We get to see more than one area of law enforcement, from the crime scene to the DA’s office, but with any quality story what’s really bringing people in are the characters. That’s really what makes it memorable and that’s what turns it into legacy, which is what we had with Blue Bloods. That’s why it went to 14 seasons. The faith, family and the traditions kept people going, and that’s why they were so upset when it left the air. I appreciate that Donnie and the other EPs, and then obviously our showrunners, the Brandons, knew that if we were going to continue this TV legacy, we have to keep faith, family and tradition at the heart of it.
DEADLINE: And we see a new take on the dinner-table gathering?
WAHLBERG: It’s the first time that Danny’s not familiar with the table. It’s a [Jewish Sabbath] Shabbat dinner and he’s probably experienced some of that in New York, but it’s a new family, and it’s a new dynamic. Danny usually just says what he wants and how he wants at the table. He’s respectful, but he doesn’t hold back. Now it’s a different world to navigate. It’s very interesting and fun to play. It gives me a new challenge in trying not to blurt out whatever’s on Danny’s mind, but it still has to be him.
MARTIN-GREEN: We get to meet this family through the eyes of Danny Reagan. He becomes a proxy for the audience because we get introduced into this multi-ethnic, multi-faith family that observes Shabbat.One of the things I loved about our version of family dinner was the fact that this family practices the Sabbath and also has this Christian influence through the grandfather (Ernie Hudson as Reverend Peters). I just think that’s phenomenal. It was a big deal to see that. I feel that that took some courage to do.
DEADLINE: Was it challenging for you, Donnie, to juggle being an exec producer on Boston Blue, and star as Danny, a character you’d played for 14 seasons on Blue Bloods?
WAHLBERG: Before shooting it was not challenging, because I wasn’t filming, I was just giving my ideas, thoughts and influence, and looking for ways to build this. Then, on set, I’m an actor and I want to respect my fellow actors. I want to be in the soup with them so it feels like they’re working with someone who shares their passion for the craft.
MARTIN-GREEN: I felt such a degree of ownership over Captain Burnham by the time we finished the five seasons that I did [of Star Trek: Discovery]. I can only imagine what that ownership would feel like if it had been 14 seasons. And I know what it is to be number one on the call sheet and then also be a producer, and I know that sometimes it’s a really fine line to walk. It’s been exciting to be able to come into a supportive position knowing what it entails.
DEADLINE: How are you striking the balance of keeping the original Blue Bloods fans happy but also creating a new world?
MARTIN-GREEN: All of us are calibrating this based on the understanding that we’re building on a seriously strong foundation, the TV legacy of Blue Bloods. I know what it is to be in a newer iteration of a TV legacy [after Star Trek: Discovery] like the back of my hand. We’re paying homage to what came before, to Donnie and all those who built the foundations. Then we’re branching out on our own and trying to find our individuality and our uniqueness.
DEADLINE: Does it help that you’re both used to working in established fandoms? Sonequa with Star Trek and The Walking Dead, and Donnie with Blue Bloods and, of course, New Kids on the Block?
WAHLBERG: Everything services everything else. Me being in a band for 40 years and being in the music business has taught me how to deal with personalities in a different way. Then, becoming an actor has taught me how to deal with my bandmates in a different way.
There is a delicate dance of meeting certain expectations of the audience, of honoring certain things that they’ve come to appreciate and expect and also taking them forward. Because of the nature of my band, because of the nature of Blue Bloods, because, for Sonequa, the nature of the Star Trek legacy, we come from a place where you respect what’s come before.
DEADLINE: Do you listen to your fans or have to tune that out somewhat?
WAHLBERG: There are people who say: ‘The fans don’t get to decide this and that.’ Well, they get to decide a lot. They don’t write the scripts, but they’ve invested their time and dedication. We work from a place of respecting the fanbase and then finding ways to take what they love and move it forward so that we’re not doing the same episode every time for the next 20 years, or the same concert. Otherwise, why do you even bother doing a spin-off? It’s something that we’re both accustomed to and I think it’s prepared us both to be in this situation.
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