Donnie Wahlberg Explains Why ‘Boston Blue’ Doesn’t Actually Film in Boston
Donnie Wahlberg fought to have his new CBS show filmed in his hometown. But it just wasn’t in the cards.
Donnie Wahlberg calls ‘Blue Bloods’ spinoff role ‘a dream come true’
Wahlberg stars in Boston Blue, which follows his Blue Bloods character, Danny Reagan, as he embarks on a new career in Beantown. Yet despite the Massachusetts setting, the series is mostly filmed in Toronto, even though the NKOTB member offered to take a significant pay cut to make his preferred filming location work.
“When I got offered the job, I’m like, ‘This is a dream come true,’ because I thought I’ll do a spinoff in LA or Vegas or Texas, somewhere hot, and they were like, ‘How about Boston?’ I was like, ‘Oh. They hooked me,’ and I was like, all, ‘Let’s do it in Boston.’” Wahlberg told Andy Cohen during a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live.
“And they were like, ‘But we can’t afford to shoot it in Boston. We’re gonna shoot it in Toronto,’ and I was like, ‘No. No,’ so I said, ‘Listen, I’ll give back 50% of my paycheck if we can go to Boston,’” he added.
Why ‘Boston Blue’ ‘cannot’ film in Boston
Despite the star’s generous offer, the studio wouldn’t budge. Even if Wahlberg agreed to work for free, the numbers wouldn’t work, they said. Shooting in Boston was simply “so expensive.” However, they did offer a compromise.
“They said, “You can give back 100% and so can the rest of the cast. We cannot film this show in Boston, but we’ll do a couple,’” he explained.
As a result, Boston Blue shoots “for the most part” in Toronto, with some scenes filming in Boston. And despite his initial disappointment, Wahlberg admits that might be for the best.
“Honestly Andy, we couldn’t film it in Boston full-time because it’s nonstop,” he told the Bravo host. “It’s literally the duck boats are going by and the duck boat tour guides have on these headsets with speakers and it’s literally in the background of a scene. You hear, ‘Oh my god, there’s Donnie Wahlberg right over there on the corner. I grew up near Donnie. Everyone get your cameras out,’ and then I gotta run over to the duck boat and pose for pictures with everyone and my cousins, my uncles, my aunts, my nieces, my nephews, my nephew’s nephew’s nephew’s nephew comes.”
“Everybody’s there and we wouldn’t get any work done. Literally,” he added. “The dailies is just, you’re literally hearing cars honking as I’m doing my dialogue.”
Boston Blue airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Episodes also stream on Paramount+.
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