Jack Nicholson initially declined the role of Frank Costello because “there wasn’t a part there.” So Scorses, DiCaprio, and Damon agree to expand the part for him.
DiCaprio said that knowing Wahlberg since their time working together on ‘Basketball Diaries’ made it easier to “rough each other up” in some scenes.
Wahlberg’s Boston roots helped him out: “My growing up there has an effect on everything that I do. The only difference was I was playing one of the cops [like the ones] that used to arrest me all the time. You usually become a crook or a cop in Boston – or a construction worker.”
It took DiCaprio and Scorsese only one day to decide to do it; “We read the script in one day and called each other the next day and said ‘Let’s do this,'” DiCaprio said, “it was so well written.”
As research for his character, Matt Damon worked with a Massachusetts State Police unit out of Boston. He accompanied them on routine patrols, participated in a drug raid, and was taught proper police procedures, like how to pat down a suspect.
When receiving the top award from the Director’s Guild of America for this film, Martin Scorsese said that this “is the first movie I have ever done with a plot.”
Scorsese put a subtle “X” in the frame whenever anyone was killed onscreen as an homage to the 1932 version of ‘Scarface,’ which is one of his favorite films and first employed the X factor.
Vera Farmiga met with a real LAPD psychiatrist to prepare for her role. The psychiatrist read the script and told Farmiga that Madolyn did pretty much everything wrong.
Jack Nicholson refused to wear a Boston Red Sox hat during filming.
The word “fuck” and its derivatives are used two hundred thirty-eight times.
‘The Departed’ was inspired by the 2002 Hong Kong thriller ‘Infernal Affairs’ centering around a police officer infiltrating an organized crime group, and a dirty copy working for the same gang. However, both directors are adamant that it is NOT a remake because “the world Monahan (the screenwriter) created is very different from the Hong Kong film.”
Nicholson went off script A LOT – “You never know what to expect from him because he can go off the cuff and just say anything or do anything,” DiCaprio said, “In character, it instills this constant fear in you.
Martin Scorsese did not realize this was a remake of a Hong Kong movie until after he had agreed to direct it. He then refused to watch ‘Infernal Affairs’ until he had completely finished his film.
When Frank walks off with the angel kids, the yacht in the background is the same yacht Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) owns in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’
Roughly half of the $90 million budget went to the actors’ salaries.
Leonardo DiCaprio called his one-on-one scene with Jack Nicholson “one of the most memorable moments of my life.”
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