Patriots Day: Michael Beach Reflects on His Pivotal Role in Boston Marathon Bombing Movie

One of the darkest days in recent American history was retold in a feature film. 2016’s Patriots Day chronicles the events of the Boston Marathon bombings that occurred during the annual 26.2-mile race in April 2013. Patriots Day incorporated a mix of real-life people, such as John Goodman playing former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, as well as fictional characters, evident by leading man Mark Wahlberg playing a sergeant that was inspired by a composite of three Boston police officers that were working during the Boston Marathon and aided in the subsequent manhunt for the terrorists responsible for the bombings.

Among the thespians tasked with bringing real-life people to the big screen was Michael Beach and his portrayal of then-Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick. Beach, a Boston native himself, worked with Patrick closely both before and during production in an effort to accurately get in the elected official’s headspace during the stressful situation.

Speaking to ComicBook, Beach reflected on making Patriots Day, noting that there was divisiveness going in considering it received the green light less than two years after the real-life terrorist attack occurred.

“It was surreal. We were shooting the movie very soon after the tragedy happened, so there were a lot of people that were for it and a lot of people that weren’t,” Beach told ComicBook. “I think a lot of the victims, the survivors who we met with individually, seemed to be, and not all obviously, but seemed to be backing the film because it’s such a strong, positive message.”

Patriots Day went on to receive critical acclaim for its emphasis on communicating accurate information and paying respectful tribute without straying into exploiting the events for the sake of crafting a compelling action-thriller.

“I think the film is amazing. I really do. The phrase Boston Strong, that film to me is the epitome of that idea. I think (director) Peter Berg really, really cared about those details because those details of the things that really connects you to the people, to what they went through to the bounce back from such a tragedy like that. I was proud to be a part of Boston, to be a part of the production, to see how much care they had in making the film.

“I think it could feel like a cash grab, but it was nothing like that. The feeling on set was nothing like that. The detail we took into every little aspect of it, to try to get the story and to be accurate and at the same time, not to be sappy, not to be over overly heroic. I thought the lines were really nicely smartly drawn.”

Beach is currently starring in Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 which airs new episodes every Sunday on Paramount+.