A new law enforcement family is taking center stage in Boston Blue, a Blue Bloods offshoot coming to CBS this October. Starring Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan and Sonequa Martin-Green as Detective Lena Silver, Boston Blue will show Danny in a new city and crossing paths with the Silvers, a family like the Reagans with a longstanding tradition of family members joining the police force or becoming lawyers. Martin-Green leads the show alongside Wahlberg. In a new video promoting Boston Blue, Wahlberg reveals how she got the part.
CBS is currently rolling out a video series called “Conversations Between Stars” (CBS, get it?), and Wahlberg and Martin-Green’s came out the week of August 11. In the special, Wahlberg shares what he was looking for in a costar during the casting process (the former New Kids on the Block star is also an executive producer on Boston Blue).
“Going into the process of trying to find Lena, my mindset was, ‘Find someone who you want to get to know more,’” he says in the video above. “And strangely enough, when I met you, I felt like you were someone I’ve known my whole life, and that made it even better. I can’t explain it.”
“I think you feel the same,” he adds. “It was instant, and you were it. And it’s a wonderful feeling to know something with such confidence. She’s it.”
The Star Trek: Discovery alum says, “We were immediately friends” when speaking of their first impressions of each other. “That’s right,” Wahlberg replies.
“We both understood what we want to do here,” Martin-Green goes on, “and I was so moved by how Donnie lives with his heart out in the open, and it really encouraged me. And then the way you welcomed me into this, I know what it’s like to have a franchise. And the fact that you opened your heart to me and into this franchise was really beautiful.”
Martin-Green also shares some details about her character Lena. She’s very family-oriented, according to the star, but she’s also community-minded. Wahlberg reiterates that Danny is very different from himself. Donnie loves to dance around; Danny, not so much. But at the heart of what they have in common is their commitment to family.
Martin-Green goes on to explain how the importance of family that made Blue Bloods so beloved is a key piece of Boston Blue‘s DNA.
“We are obviously standing on the shoulders of the Reagan family, the culture that was already established,” she says. “And I love it because we’re going to get close with another family, the Silvers, which is also a prominent law enforcement family, and that’s where Lena Silver is from, and it’s very similar to the Reagans. I mean, they couldn’t be more different, but they are also so similar. Here we have Boston, which is a character in and of itself, and you have Danny, who understands a family like this. It’s crime. It’s doing the right thing. It’s sacrifice. It’s all those things that we’ve loved with Blue Bloods for a long time.”
“No matter who was a fan of Blue Bloods, they all could relate to the family,” Wahlberg adds, assuring that that will still be true with Boston Blue.
