EXCLUSIVE: “They really found the heartbeat inside of the badge and in honoring that, they definitely kept the themes of family, specifically a law enforcement family and community,” says Boston Blue director and executive producer Anthony Hemingway of the Blue Bloods spinoff showrunners Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis and the move of Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan to The Hub.
Set to debut tonight on CBS less than a year after the Tom Selleck-led NYPD family drama wrapped up its well-watched 14-year run, Boston Blue not only finds the hot-tempered Reagan scion in a new city, but with a new partner who is the eldest daughter of a very well-connected Boston law enforcement brood. Played by Star Trek Discovery captain Sonequa Martin-Green, Detective Lena Silver both is a kindred spirit to Wahlberg’s Reagan and a foil, as the NYPD Detective faces not only professional challenges, but also increased responsibilities as a parent as his own son Sean (Mika Amonsen) walks the beat himself.
Having directed tonight’s Boston Blue pilot episode, Hemmingway also finds his self in the skyscrapers and courtrooms of LA with Ryan Murphy’s Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor, Matthew Noszka starring Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close All Fair, that launches on Hulu on November 4. An EP too on the all-female legal firm drama, The Wire and American Crime Story vet helmed four of the nine episodes of All’s Fair’s first season. As well, as Deadline revealed last year, Hemingway is reuniting with Power actor Omari Hardwick for the Wall Street-set feature No Right Way.
Watch on Deadline
rStill, today’s all about Boston Blue and the fraternity it seemingly has already become.
Just ask the Brandons.
“Anthony Hemingway is a visionary storyteller who helped us move the Blue Bloods universe forward by injecting the captivating visuals and nuanced depth of character into the pilot that he brings to all his work,” Sonnier and Margolis told Deadline of the filmmaker. “His dynamic camera is always searching for the meaning behind the moment and through his unique style and swagger, he delivered an exciting cop show with the heart of a family drama. Anthony is a master of his craft and helped mold Boston Blue into an elevated crime drama with his visual style, emotional direction, and keen sense of story.”
A certain mainman had his own take.
“Anthony got this show on every level,” Donnie Wahlberg declares.
“He was the perfect director for the first episode,” the Boston-born actor first on the Boston Blue call sheet adds. “He set a very high bar for the rest of the directors and for the series itself. He is so New York, so he was tuned into Danny’s transition. He could also relate to Lena and her take on this New Yorker showing up in her city. He understood the importance of, and had a perfect touch when it came to, melding our two Reagan men with The Silver family.”
Just back from the Boston Blue premiere in NYC earlier this week and the LA premiere Thursday at the DGA, Hemingway chatted with me about the Blue Bloods spinoff. He also dug into the BTS and on-screen connections between the original show and Boston Blue, the possibilities of All’s Fair, the status of No Right Way, and the importance of independence.
DEADLINE: How did you get linked up with Boston Blue?
ANTHONY HEMINGWAY: Donnie Wahlberg and I go back multiple decades. He is a national treasure, that man. He’s such, just a beautiful spirit, beautiful human and an amazing actor. So, I get a call from my agent, basically saying this new pilot spinoff for Blue Bloods is starting Boston Blue and they’re interested in you. You know, I have a very long relationship with Jerry Bruckheimer and his team. Shortly after I have my directing debut on The Wire, I moved to L.A. and the next show I did was CSI: NY, and that introduced me into the Bruckheimer family, so I’ve been with them for a couple decades now So, when it came to Boston Blue, I’m like, well, send me the script and let me check it out.
DEADLINE: Clearly, you didn’t pass…
HEMINGWAY: I was floored, Dom. I really was excited because the Brandons wrote something special. Not only did they honor what many die-hard Blue Bloods fans are expecting, they took it so much deeper and further. They found a way to figure out how to coexist two faiths, you know, Judaism and Christianity, which to me, was so touching my heart.
DEADLINE: How so?
HEMINGWAY: It speaks to the meaning of things that I love to do. They really found the heartbeat inside of the badge and in honoring that, they definitely kept the themes of family, specifically a law enforcement family and community. So I read the script, immediately, got excited, went in, had a meeting, and, you know, the rest is history.
Also, CBS really backed us up, trusted us. They believed in what The Brandons’ wrote and they believed in my vision to expand the legacy of Blue Bloods, while telling a fresh, human perspective of Boston. That kind of trust and support is very rare in today’s system. I think overall what it speaks to its relationships, and that’s something that I foster.
DEADLINE: Like with Donnie Wahlberg?
HEMINGWAY: Exactly! Donnie, is bringing years of the legacy of Blue Bloods, and now there’s the connection and the transition from Blue Bloods. Once he made a decision to do Boston Blue, to really kind of step into a new character, that was the beauty that we really tapped into. With his son Sean in the force, Sonequa as his new partner, we get to really see layers that he didn’t get to do on Blue Bloods – the vulnerability the human, and the father Danny Reagan is in this world.
DEADLINE: To that, it’s no secret that one Reagan from NYC shows up in the Boston Blue premiere, Bridget Moynahan’s prosecutor Erin Reagan. So, are we going to see more of them in Boston in this first season?
HEMINGWAY: With my executive producer hat on, let me say, the plan and concept, without spoiling anything, is to continue to find ways on intersecting and bringing back some of those beloved characters.
DEADLINE: Specifics?
HEMINGWAY: Bridget coming back was beautiful in so many ways. She was there to do what Blue Bloods was great at, and that’s representing family and how they stood for each other and by each other and supported each other. So, on Boston Blue she came at a very important moment in time in Danny Reagan’s life, where his world was cracking completely open. Also, for me, it was so nice as this was my first time working with her and Bridget was really awesome.
Also, one fun fact, well two: Bridget is also directing an episode and I may be doing at least another one too.
I just saw her in New York day before yesterday, and it was just really nice to catch up with her, to hear how her experience went behind the lens. As for more Reagans, I don’t want to spoil everything for everyone, but there is definitely elements of Blue Bloods coming in Boston Blue that will satisfy, I think, the hardcore fans of the original series.
DEADLINE: It’s been quite the week with the All’s Fair trailer bursting records too…
HEMINGWAY: Tell me about it! I mean, let’s just take a sec to talk about what I’ve been blessed to be a part of right now. Next month, we are premiering All’s Fair on Hulu. The trailer dropped the other day, over 40 million views. That’s insane. You know, last year I did Netflix’s Forever with Mara Brock Akil, the Judy Blume adaptation or reimagining, and seeing how it impacted just community and culture again, allows me, tells me that I’m on the right path
Today, knowing the sophistication that Ryan Murphy created with All’s Fair and tapping into a narrative that doesn’t fully get to be explored is amazing. We’re seeing the results of that labor, and people are excited about it. Over 40 million views just off a trailer, does not sit lightly. You know? It’s not lost on me.
DEADLINE: You’ve done a lot of work with Ryan Murphy, the OJ American Crime Story series and others, over that time everything has changed in many ways. How does that shift look from the director’s chair?
HEMINGWAY: I think the industry has built me in a way of knowing how to deliver very effectively, and creatively, and that’s allowed me to feel and hear what audiences are looking for. I’m all about intention, it’s all about what is meant to do, what’s meaningful?
DEADLINE: Big picture, what’s that look like in today’s industry of sliding scales, AI encroachment, social media and fractured viewership?
HEMINGWAY: It’s about adapting and adjusting. There’s a balance to have, you know, and it doesn’t have to be one way or the other.
Figuring out how to understand what’s important and what audiences are looking for. They still want heart. They still want authenticity. They still want the things that make them feel good.
DEADLINE: OK…
HEMINGWAY: I think it’s less about time slots or the mechanics of what it used to be. We’re now in a place where it’s about really listening to what the world needs and finding those mechanisms to really help fuel that and be a representation of it. I think the material that does all that, and obviously in an entertaining way, succeeds.
DEADLINE: Shifting to success of another nature, what’s the current state of your Wall Street drama, No Right Way, that Deadline’s Matt Grober exclusively reported on last year?
HEMINGWAY: We are currently in finance raising right now, which is funny for a project that deals with generational wealth and tries to unpack that. We’re tapping into Wall Street in a really major way. That access is where my mission is to find that independence, that way I can figure out how to create the ownership and, uphold the integrity of the work that I care about and want to do. We’re hoping to get into production in that next year. We’re really close.
DEADLINE: Is that independence your North Star?
HEMINGWAY: Yes.
It’s really speaking to what I want to do with No Right Way, what I want to do with just my own production company, AHP. Find the opportunity again, it’s all about access. That’s what my mission right now is to get that access, to have the ownership, and to do what I feel I’ve learned over my tenure in this industry. I want to take that now, apply it to what I feel the audiences are starving for, and deliver.
