50 Fun Facts About The Departed

Who directed The Departed?

It finally won him a Best Director Oscar after five previous losses.

The Departed is a remake of which 2002 Hong Kong film?

Warner Bros. and producers Brad Grey and Brad Pitt bought the remake rights for $1.75 million.

Who plays the Irish mob boss Frank Costello?

He wanted the film to have 'something a little more' than the usual gangster picture, which led to the Whitey Bulger idea.

Which real Boston gangster is Frank Costello loosely based on?

Like Costello, Bulger operated with wide latitude as a protected FBI informant.

Which actor plays the undercover trooper Billy Costigan?

He was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role.

Which Boston-raised actor plays Colin Sullivan, Costello's mole in the police?

Scorsese's associate Kenneth Lonergan suggested him for the part.

Which star was originally slated to play Sullivan but decided to produce the film instead?

He said a younger actor should play the part.

Which actor turned down the role of Captain Queenan in order to direct The Good Shepherd?

Martin Sheen took the part instead.

Who plays the foul-mouthed sergeant who works under Queenan and gets the film's last word?

He earned the film's only acting Oscar nomination, losing to Alan Arkin.

Who plays Captain Queenan?

He is thrown from a building to his death by Costello's men.

Which British actor plays Costello's enforcer 'Frenchie' French?

Winstone's character is Arnold French, called Mr. French throughout.

Who plays Dr. Madolyn Madden, the police psychiatrist involved with both Sullivan and Costigan?

The remake merged the original film's two female characters into one, which Andy Lau thought weaker.

Which actor plays Captain Ellerby, Sullivan's boss?

Ray Liotta was also approached for a role but was committed elsewhere.

Which law-enforcement agency employs both Costigan and his rival mole?

Sullivan joins its Special Investigation Unit; Costigan is recruited by Queenan and Dignam straight from the academy.

What does Costigan do to establish his cover before joining Costello's crew?

He then commits several crimes to draw Costello's attention.

What is Costello selling to Chinese mobsters in the sting that Sullivan sabotages?

Both sides realise afterwards that they have a mole.

What secret about Costello does Costigan uncover and share with Queenan?

Sullivan later confirms it from Queenan's files, and Costello admits it before Sullivan shoots him.

Which of Costello's henchmen tells Costigan he knows he is the mole, then dies?

A news report later identifies him as an undercover Boston police officer, which Costello suspects is a ruse.

Which actor plays Trooper Brown, Costigan's police academy classmate?

Kevin Corrigan plays Costigan's cousin Sean; David O'Hara is Fitzy.

What does Costigan spot on Sullivan's desk that reveals Sullivan is the mole?

He had earlier watched Costello hand the envelope to a man he could not identify.

Where does Costigan arrest Sullivan near the end of the film?

A fellow trooper arrives while he holds Sullivan at gunpoint and hears him claim to have evidence.

Who shoots Costigan in the elevator?

Barrigan reveals he is another of Costello's spies; Sullivan then shoots Barrigan and frames him as the only mole.

Who kills Sullivan in the final scene?

He had been suspended after an altercation with Sullivan following Queenan's murder.

What animal appears on Sullivan's window ledge in the final shot?

Scorsese said it symbolises the 'quest for the rat' and the distrust running through the film, not to be taken literally.

Which letter does Scorsese use as a visual motif to foreshadow death throughout the film?

The device is borrowed from Howard Hawks's 1932 Scarface; it appears behind Costigan's head in the elevator.

The funeral scene, where Madden walks past Sullivan without looking, quotes the ending of which classic film?

Scorsese also cited that film's zither score as an inspiration for the guitar-based music.

Which opera provides Costello's phone ringtone?

He is also seen listening to the famous sextet from Act 2 of Donizetti's opera.

Who composed the guitar-driven score?

Scorsese called it 'a very dangerous and lethal tango'.

Which Pink Floyd song, sung by Roger Waters with Van Morrison and The Band, opens the album?

The Dropkick Murphys' 'I'm Shipping Up to Boston' is on the same album.

Which Boston Celtic-punk band's song 'I'm Shipping Up to Boston' features in the film?

The soundtrack also includes the Rolling Stones' 'Let It Loose' and Badfinger's 'Baby Blue'.

How many Academy Awards did The Departed win?

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

Who won the Oscar for editing The Departed?

She has been Scorsese's editor since Raging Bull.

Who wrote the Oscar-winning adapted screenplay?

His script was what persuaded Scorsese to sign on.

Who beat the film's only acting nominee to the Best Supporting Actor Oscar?

Arkin won for Little Miss Sunshine.

What did Scorsese joke was the reason he finally won an Oscar?

Some critics called the win a 'Lifetime Achievement Award for a lesser film'.

The film cost about $90m to make. Roughly what was its worldwide gross?

It opened at number one with $26.9 million, the fourth Scorsese film to do so.

Why were many of the film's interior scenes shot in New York rather than Boston?

Boston did not have comparable incentives for filmmakers at the time.

Where did The Departed have its premiere in September 2006?

Warner Bros. released it in US cinemas on October 6.

Which Simpsons episode parodies the film?

It is listed among the film's cultural spin-offs alongside its ranking on the WGA's greatest screenplays list.

What happened to the planned sequel to The Departed?

A script existed, but expense and Scorsese's lack of interest in sequels killed it.

Who directed the Hong Kong original?

Andrew Lau said he thought his version was better but that the Hollywood one was 'pretty good too'.

Which two actors star as the undercover cop and the triad mole in the Hong Kong original?

Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang play their respective bosses.

What score out of ten did the original's star Andy Lau give the Hollywood remake?

He thought it was too long, as if all three Infernal Affairs films had been combined, but worth watching.

Which of these is NOT a remake of the same Hong Kong original?

Oldboy is based on a Japanese manga.

Which corrupt FBI agent is also cited as a real-life basis for the film?

The Winter Hill Gang is the third real-world reference point.

Which real Boston crime organization is The Departed loosely based on?

The Winter Hill Gang was the Boston Irish mob associated with Whitey Bulger, whose FBI-protected status gave the screenplay its dangerous edge.

Roughly how much did Warner Bros. and its producers pay for the remake rights to Infernal Affairs?

The rights were bought from Media Asia Entertainment Group in January 2003, with William Monahan then hired to write the script.

Which playwright and filmmaker suggested Matt Damon for the role of Sullivan?

Scorsese's associate Kenneth Lonergan, who wrote Gangs of New York, pointed to the Boston-raised Damon after Brad Pitt passed on the part.

The film's technical consultant Tom Duffy spent three decades with which organization?

Duffy had worked as an undercover detective investigating the Irish mob, giving the production first-hand knowledge of the world it depicted.

Which single award did The Departed win at the 64th Golden Globes from six nominations?

Scorsese took the directing prize while DiCaprio, Nicholson, Wahlberg, Monahan and the film itself went home empty-handed that night.