The Departed/Trivia


 * All-Star Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin.
 * Breakaway Pop Hit: "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys. Though it wasn't recorded for the movie, it was popularized greatly by it and is now basically the theme song for most Boston sports teams. The rest of the soundtrack was also very well-received and CD of the same became a critical plot point on The Sopranos.
 * Name's the Same: Jack Nicholson's character shares a name with a famous New York City mobster, but is not inspired by him in any way. The real-life Frank Costello inspired Vito Corleone. The Frank Costello of The Departed was inspired by James "Whitey" Bulger.
 * Real Life Relative: Mark Wahlberg is Staff Sgt. Sean Dignam. His brother Robert Wahlberg is FBI Special Agent Frank Lazio.
 * Throw It In: Scorsese allowed Jack Nicholson to improvise a fair bit to add to Costello's sense of unpredictability; this resulted in Enforced Method Acting, as Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't sure what to expect in his scenes with Nicholson.
 * Unintentional Period Piece: When Costigan is on the walkway at the airport and talking to Dignam on the phone, one shot shows what are clearly Northwest Airlines and United Airlines aircraft in the background. This narrows down the time period because the United planes are painted dark gray, when today they are painted white, while the Northwest plane bears a paint scheme that lasted from 2004 until the airline merged with Delta in 2010.