You ever see the movie The Hard Way with Michael J Fox? That was me. It was like, 'Hey guys, I get a gun?' They were like, 'Absolutely not, shut up.' (laughs)

(Retired Boston detective) Tom Duffy was a huge resource for us, and for me. Leo got connected to a bunch of people who were around Whitey Bulger (the gangster Frank Costello, Jack Nicholson's character is based on). But Duff was able to get me around a bunch of the police. And it was just fascinating.

Because for me, I had a real advantage in that I'm from Boston. So, I didn't have to learn an accent or do anything like that. I got to skip straight to investigating this subculture of the state police. And what I knew of the state police was limited to the times I've been pulled over for speeding. And so to get in there and really see what these guys do was great. Any time you get access like that, it's really the most interesting part of this job, of acting. Because it's your own time, and it's months ahead of time, and there's no pressure on you.

Once you get on a film set, the clock is ticking. Every minute costs a lot of money, but when you research you can go at your own pace. So, I spent a lot of time with these guys, just soaking it in, not really having to have a goal specifically, but rather just sitting there and spending time, meals, just to pick stuff up. And all that stuff ends up influencing you.

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