Donnie Wahlberg is back on TV screens playing tough cop Danny Reagan, but stepping into character on the set of Boston Blue comes with a funny problem. The actor, who grew up just outside Boston, cannot catch a break when cameras roll in his own backyard.
Fans keep shouting his name, tour guides point him out to crowds, and the famous duck boats refuse to stay quiet. Wahlberg recently opened up about why filming the CBS drama in Beantown turns into a daily circus—and why he would not change a thing.
The Boston Blue star sat down with Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa on the April 22 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark to share what really happens when the crew sets up on location in his hometown.
“It’s crazy,” the 56-year-old actor explained. “We don’t get anything shot.”
He described how every single take gets interrupted. Right in the middle of a tense arrest scene, locals start calling his name from behind the barricades.
“Every take, I’m literally saying, ‘Give me your hand, sir, you’re under arrest,’ and it’s like, ‘Donnie! Donnie,’” Wahlberg said.
The biggest troublemakers are the duck boat tours that roll through Boston carrying tourists. These vehicles have speakers attached to them, and the tour guides spot Wahlberg filming immediately.
Then they start broadcasting his personal history to everyone on board.
“Over there, you’ll see Donnie Wahlberg in the wild,” the actor recalled the guides announcing. “He grew up three doors down from me, I knew his mother, God rest her soul.”
Kelly Ripa laughed hearing this and joked that the Wahlberg family should just get their own duck boat at this point.
The New York Accent Challenge Adds Another Layer to ‘Boston Blue’ Filming
Here is the twist that makes everything even trickier. Wahlberg plays a New York City detective who moves to the Boston Police Department. That means on Boston Blue, he cannot use his real Boston accent.
The actor spent 14 years on Blue Bloods learning to sound like a Brooklynite. He said New York crew members never let him forget when his hometown New England Patriots beat their New York Giants.
“I’d show up to work the next day, [there’d be] posters, newspaper clippings plastered all over,” Wahlberg remembered. “They’d never let up on me.”
That tough love actually prepared him for his current situation. “So they taught me how to bring that to Boston and tease Bostonians, even though I am one,” he said.
Fans Already Celebrated Season 2 Renewal of ‘Boston Blue’
The show, which premiered on CBS in October 2025, continues the story of Danny Reagan as he works closer to his son Sean (Mika Amonsen) . The series airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET and streams the next day on Paramount+ .
Back in March 2026, Wahlberg got to share exciting news with his castmates. He personally called each actor to tell them Boston Blue had been renewed for a second season.
“I had the pleasure of calling all my castmates and telling them… that we were getting a season two,” Wahlberg told People magazine at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
The calls turned into emotional moments. “Every cast member got tears in their eyes, every single one of them, and so did I,” he shared.
His wife Jenny McCarthy joked they celebrated the news at home with a little dance.
Why Most ‘Boston Blue’ Scenes Film in Toronto Instead of Boston
Given the chaos of filming in his hometown, viewers might wonder why the show does not just stay there permanently. The answer comes down to money.
Wahlberg previously explained on the Billy and Lisa in the Morning podcast that production costs forced the team to shoot most interiors on a soundstage in Toronto, Canada.
“When I initially was offered the job, I said, ‘We got to go to Boston.’ They said, ‘We can’t afford it,’” he recalled.
Filming in Canada costs about thirty cents for every production dollar. Shooting in Boston runs closer to eighty or ninety cents, even with tax breaks.
“But I said, ‘We have to go to Boston. I can’t not go to Boston,’” Wahlberg insisted. So the crew comes down every couple of weeks to film exterior scenes all over the city.
“You can’t fake what Boston looks like,” he added. “The goal is, let’s compromise to get the show made. We’ll work outside and do exteriors in Boston, and then you know, in success, perhaps we can come down there and be there full time.”
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Where to Watch ‘Boston Blue’ and Catch Up on Season 1
New episodes of Boston Blue come out weekly on CBS. For viewers in the USA, the show airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern Time. Paramount+ subscribers can stream episodes the following day.
Fans in Canada can watch on Global TV and also stream through Paramount+. UK viewers find episodes on Sky Max and the NOW streaming service. Australian audiences can catch the show on Paramount+ Australia and Network 10. Indian viewers get access through Voot Select and Paramount+ as well.
With a second season already confirmed, viewers can expect more of Danny Reagan navigating Boston life while Wahlberg continues dodging duck boat tours and friendly shout-outs from his neighbors.
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