The Walking Dead and Star Trek: Discovery alum Sonequa Martin-Green says she wanted to star in CBS’ Boston Blue because it shows her police detective Lena Silver spending time with her loved ones, not just solving cases.
The Blue Bloods spin-off sees Lena partnered up with Donnie Wahlberg’s former New York Police Detective Danny Reagan.
It will have its mid-season finale on Friday and resume in February.
“There were many things that pulled me into this. I really appreciate what is at the heart of this show, which is what was also at the heart of Blue Bloods,” Martin-Green, 40, said during a recent panel discussion in Manhattan.
“Faith, family and tradition. It’s what was always at the center of Blue Bloods and why I believe it was such a massive success, why it forged its own place in TV history,” she said.
“I also appreciated this woman who is so precisely brilliant at her job, but who is also so deeply rooted in her family, her community and, most importantly, her faith. My heart pitter-patters for such things. I want to tell purer stories and I feel like Blue Bloods had a purity to it and I do believe that Boston Blue does, as well. That’s the kind of stuff that I want to put it out into the world.”
Martin-Green said she was also happy to work with Wahblerg, the New Kids on the Block singer who played Reagan for 14 seasons before he headed to Beantown after his cop son Sean (Mika Amonsen) is injured in a fire.
“I really love Donny, loved him before, and then being able to meet him and be fast friends with him,” Martin-Green said.
“I was particularly excited about the partnership, the family dynamics, absolutely, getting to see a more evolved — maybe ‘more evolved’ doesn’t sound right — but beginning to see Danny Reagan continue to grow and change, and be in this new city with this new family and seeing this multi-faith, multi-ethnic family all were really, really exciting to me.”
The police procedural co-stars Ernie Hudson as Lena’s Baptist Minister grandfather Edwin; Gloria Reuben as her Jewish district attorney mom Mae; Maggie Lawson as her step-sister Sarah, superintendent of detectives of the Boston Police Department; and Marcus Scribner as her little brother, rookie cop Jonah.
For a long time, it was just Lena, Mae and Edwin, but when Mae married Ben he brought with him his daughter Sarah from a previous marriage and Mae and Ben had Jonah together.
When the show begins, Ben has been dead for about a year and his family is still mourning him.
“It’s so interesting how they all came together, a truly blended family,” Martin-Green said.
This is the second time this year Reuben played Martin-Green’s mother. They also co-starred in the movie, My Dead Friend Zoe.
“We had a not healthy relationship in that film. It’s a pretty gritty film and we’re very proud of it. And, so, it was amazing when [the writer-producers known as] the Brandons called me up and they were like, ‘Guess who’s going to play your mom?'” Martin-Green recalled.
“I’m like, ‘I love her!’ So, that was phenomenal. The rest of them I had not met,” she added. “Ernie is the most humble, funny, living legend.”
The actress thinks the cast’s affection for one another is most obvious in the show’s family dinner scenes.
“I love what we’re building,” she said.
“What you see at the Shabbat dinners and what you’ll continue to see is that we really love each other and we really enjoy each other’s company.”
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