How ‘Blue Bloods’ Star Donnie Wahlberg Remembers His Lines
“Blue Bloods” star Donnie Wahlberg has been playing the role of Danny Reagan since 2010. Here’s what Wahlberg said about how he remembers his lines.
Donnie Wahlberg changes his ‘Blue Bloods’ lines a lot
Wahlberg admitted to his fans that he often changes his lines and he doesn’t learn the lines far in advance. He doesn’t do this because he forgets his lines or thinks the writing is bad. Rather, he adjusts Danny’s lines so that the dialogue sounds more natural. Here’s what Wahlberg said about his habit:
I change the lines a lot, not because they’re not written good but just to make them feel natural coming out of Danny’s mouth. Playing the detective in the show, I have to do a lot of expositional dialogue, which is when you don’t really communicate with someone, you just talk in all explaining terms about what’s going on in the case so the audience knows what’s going on. It’s very difficult to do expositional dialogue in a natural way, but I have a lot of freedom on the show to finesse it and make it sound conversational, so that’s why I don’t learn the lines to far in advance.
How Donnie Wahlberg remembers his lines
During a special CBS question-and-answer session, a fan asked Wahlberg how he remembers his “Blue Bloods” lines. Here’s what he revealed:
It’s pretty easy to memorize my lines from “Blue Bloods.” I think I’ve been playing the character of Danny Reagan so long it becomes easier and easier every day. I used to study every night before I go to work the next day. But now, I just kind of learn them as each scene comes up. I read the script one or two times and just make sure I know what’s going on, and then I just learn the lines in each scene.
‘NCIS’ star Michael Weatherly had a hilarious way of remembering his lines
Apparently, former “NCIS” star Michael Weatherly had a tough time remembering his lines. During a CBS roundtable discussion back in 2012, Weatherly revealed the hilarious way he remembered his lines. “If I’m picking my fingernails, it’s probably because I have my lines written down on my hand,” said Weatherly. Host Lara Spencer looked surprised, saying “Are you telling the truth? Because these are your fans. Are you telling the truth? Do you really sneak lines in places?” she asked. Pauley Perrette responded, “Every actor does.” Weatherly confirmed that he really did write his lines down on his hand. He said he felt better about doing this when he realized another famous actor did the same thing:
There’s a part in ‘To Catch a Thief’ that I told Mark [Harmon] about a couple of years ago. I’m watching this Cary Grant movie with my wife and all of a sudden Grant stutters a line and he looks in his glove compartment in the car. And I’m like, ‘He’s got his lines written down!’ And I watch as he reads the lines and finishes. And I’m like, ‘thank you.’ [That provided] some confirmation.
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