Undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) must protect his own identity while tailing the mob's police mole in The Departed.

The Departed Production Notes

Chapter 4: Act Accordingly Prior to the start of principal photography, a number of cast members began training for their roles, most with the help of technical consultant Tom Duffy. Recently retired, Duffy had served three decades with the Massachusetts State Police, a significant portion of which was spent in the Special Investigations Unit, targeting organized crime, including the Irish mob. His background and experience made him an invaluable resource for the cast, as well as the filmmakers. Executive producer G. Mac Brown says, “When you start looking for a technical consultant, you don’t always know where or if you’re going to find the right person. We had learned about Tom and knew he was a retired state trooper, so we got his number and just made a cold call. He ended up coming through with flying colors.” Working on his first feature film, Duffy was duly impressed by Scorsese’s commitment to accuracy, from the police terminology to the attire. “I was somewhat overwhelmed by his attention to detail,” Duffy admits. “We went through a painstaking process to make sure everything was as authentic as possible, not just about the rudiments of police work, but in trying to get into the minds of the officers. Keeping in perspective that it’s a piece of entertainment, I think it’s very realistic.” The director was not the only one who benefited from Duffy’s expertise. Matt Damon confirms, “I’m from Boston, so there are cultural aspects of the city that are second nature to me, but that didn’t address the subculture of the state police. To have a person like Duffy, with his breadth of actual experience, take me under his wing—it was everything to me. Duffy gave me information and showed me around and connected me with other state troopers. I was able to spend days with them, picking their brains and watching them in action. I even went on a ride-along and, at one point, went in on a drug bust with these guys. That’s the kind of experience you can’t approximate. It’s really the fun part of the job,” he smiles. Brown remembers that he wasn’t exactly smiling when he got the phone call about Damon’s brush with Boston’s criminal element…after the fact. “Matt calls and he’s all excited because he’s gone out on this ride-along. And I’m thinking, ‘Thanks a lot, Duffy,’” Brown kids. “I mean, that’s just great for Matt, but, as a producer, you worry about your star going out on a real raid with real police and real guns at a real crime scene. Obviously, it all worked out okay.” For Damon, the time spent with the real troopers had an impact on his portrayal of Colin that went beyond the practical applications. “It was really humbling to see the troopers’ commitment to what they do, often at tremendous risk. As I was thinking about Colin, I realized that, at some level, he must have a deep, deep disdain, not just for the law, but for police officers themselves. To be that close to that kind of selfless sacrifice every day and then to want to undo it says a lot about who he is. There were so many things I was able to bring to my performance that I would not have known without that time with the experts, so what Duffy did for me was incalculable,” Damon states. Duffy also advised Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin on the correct demeanor for ranking members of the state police. In fact, Sheen notes, “I based my character a lot on Tom Duffy. Whenever I shot a scene, I would try to think how Tom would do it…and he was right there to make sure I did it right.” Although DiCaprio’s Billy Costigan spends most of the movie acting more like a criminal than a cop, the actor was nevertheless able to profit from Duffy’s years of undercover experience. “Working undercover requires a certain state of mind,” Duffy says. “Leo and I talked a lot about the toll it can take over time.” “The whole idea of what it is to be a cop in that circumstance, and the mindset I had to get into, would not have been as authentic without him,” DiCaprio attests. “He was a tremendous help throughout the entire shoot.” In preparing to play a native Bostonian, DiCaprio also knew the importance of immersing himself in the local culture. “I definitely felt I needed to go to Boston and walk around and get a feeling for the people,” he says. “Everyone there was extremely supportive and tried to help me as much as they could. There was someone I hung out with, who took me down to the old neighborhoods and also helped me with the accent. It really helped me get into the character.” “Leo was at a real disadvantage coming into this movie,” Damon allows. “I mean, he had to do a lot of preparation work that Mark Wahlberg and I didn’t have to do because we both grew up in Boston. There is a very particular attitude and culture there, and Leo did a great job capturing that. It was truly impressive.”  Next Chapter: The Big Apple Meets Beantown

						Share on Facebook.
Add this page to social networks   BlinkList | del.icio.us | Digg it | Furl | ma.gnolia | Netvouz | Simpy | Spurl | Netscape | StumbleUpon