A First Look at Johnny Depp As Whitey Bulger in Black Mass [Updated]
Plus: photos of the set and upcoming shooting locations for the biopic.
By Bryanna Cappadona·	 5/14/2014, 3:37 p.m.
We had a few tips for A-list actor Johnny Depp for when he comes to town to shoot his Whitey Bulger biopic, Black Mass, but even despite our expert advice, it looks like Depp has really gotten in touch with his inner Whitey on his own.
Back when Deadline confirmed that Johnny Depp will play Whitey Bulger in one of many upcoming biopics about the Boston criminal, we were pretty concerned about the casting decision. But although his Boston accent has yet to be heard (which may make or break this role), these pictures show that Depp might actually be a more convincing Whitey than we thought.
Last month, CP Casting & Acting Studio held a casting call for Black Mass, during which they were looking for "Italian wise guys, Irish tough guys," and "people with cars from the '70s/'80s to represent Boston in the 1970s and 1980s." Since then, we've also been wondering how production was going to transform 2014 Southie (now a more gentrified area), to the blue-collar Irish-Catholic Southie that Bulger once reigned.
The answer: re-create what used to be. Garrett Quinn stumbled into a replicated version of the old Triple O's Lounge in Cambridge and shared photos on Twitter:
Did this old Whitey Bulger hangout just reappear in Inman Square? Yes it did at the old Polish American club. pic.twitter.com/4ljuZLDpRD
— Garrett Quinn (@GarrettQuinn) May 14, 2014
Here's photos from the inside of the recreated "Triple O's" in Inman Square pic.twitter.com/pXctgntoKm
The bar is a pretty notable place from the Whitey era: Named for the three O'Neil brothers who ran it, Triple O's was a hole-in-the-wall dive on West Broadway in South Boston. Ex-boxer Kevin Weeks worked as a bouncer at the bar before joining Bulger's mob, and it's where Whitey Bulger once held "court." The Phoenix wrote that Whitey "liked the ambience of a second-floor room upstairs—its grit and darkness were good for shakedowns, murder plots, and meetings with the nascent IRA." A bookie named Louis Litif was escorted to Bulger and killed here.
These days, that same unit houses a slick sushi joint called Owl Station and neighbors a Starbucks.
The film Black Mass is expected to be shooting in Boston throughout the summer, and according to OnLocationVacations.com, the film will set up camp in a few different spots around town. Here are confirmed shooting locations for the months of May, June, and July:
• May 28: 170 I St., South Boston
• May 28: 226 W. Broadway, South Boston
• June 3: 1663 Columbia Road, Boston
• June 12: Gold St. and Dorchester St., South Boston
• June 16 & 17: 111 G St., South Boston
• June 18: D St. and W. 3rd St., South Boston
• June 19: 751 E. Broadway, South Boston
• June 20: 95 C St., Boston
• July 9: Fid Kennedy, Boston
Had a Depp/Black Mass sighting? Post in our comments!
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