For Donnie Wahlberg, the tight father-son bond portrayed on Boston Blue is not an abstract concept. It’s one firmly rooted in the relationship he has with his own children. 

On the new series — a spinoff of CBS’s Blue Bloods, which ran for 14 seasons — Wahlberg reprises his role as Det. Danny Reagan, who relocates from New York City to Boston to work with and support his police officer son Sean. 

“So many people say, ‘Well, Danny would never leave New York. It’s not believable, and his son wouldn’t want him in Boston.’ I have a 24-year-old son and I can’t tell you how many times he’s asked me in the last year to move back to California to be close to him,” says Wahlberg, who has two adult sons, Xavier and Elijah, with his first wife Kim Fey, and a stepson, Evan, with wife Jenny McCarthy. 

“It’s the most wonderful feeling in my personal life, and I’m watching it play out in my TV life,” Wahlberg, 56, tells PEOPLE. “Every time there’s a doubt that this guy would stay in town, I just think of my son’s text and I say, ‘Oh, you think a son wouldn’t want to be close to his Dad?’ There’s no more reason for Danny to leave New York than for his son.”

Since 2015, Wahlberg and McCarthy have lived in St. Charles, Ill., a quiet suburb outside Chicago. Their filming schedules, however, require weekly commutes to Toronto, where he films Boston Blue, and Los Angeles, where she appears as a judge on The Masked Singer. Wahlberg also spends several weeks a year in Las Vegas, where he performs with boyband New Kids on the Block in a series of musical residency dates.

“Probably the only thing that could ever get me back to California is my two sons. And if they keep asking, Jenny and I are going start going on realtor.com and figuring things out,” he says with a laugh. 

His family, he says, has helped him evolve his character for the new series — especially as his sons have grown up and pursued their own interests and passions, which include following in their father’s musical footsteps. Xavier tours in a hardcore band and Elijah performs with his band Pink Laces.  

“I love the relationship I have with my sons, and I do like having fun and bringing a little of that with me to my TV relationship,” he says. “I think Danny parents a lot different than me, though. He’s a lot tougher than I am. I’m definitely bringing some of the softer side to Danny, which is a more of a reflection of my parenting.” 

Wahlberg’s on-screen son Sean is now played by Mika Amonsen, who stepped into the Boston Blue role after Blue Bloods’ Andrew Terraciano was recast for the new series to advance his police officer plot line. 

“Mika’s been fantastic. He’s coming into a place, that of another actor, and that’s a challenge. Much like the challenge of me carrying on the Blue Bloods universe without Blue Bloods. I could understand what he was going through and it connected us and bonded us in many ways, and I think that resonates on screen a lot.”

Despite needing to build a life-long relationship from scratch, Wahlberg says their bond was evident from the beginning.  

“There are scenes in some of the episodes that I just can’t imagine playing them with anyone else,” says the star. “I’m very grateful that he took the job.” 

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The chemistry, says Wahlberg, extends to the larger cast, which includes veteran actors Gloria Reuben (District Attorney Mae Silver), Ernie Hudson (Rev. Edwin Peters) and Sonequa Martin-Green (Det. Lena Silver). 

“I’m not surprised by it but I’m just kind of blown away by the friendships we’ve formed already and the tightness that we all have. I really love this little family. I feel very protective of this little family.”

With the exception of Wahlberg and the occasional Blue Bloods character cameo — Bridget Moynihan (Erin Reagan) and Marisa Ramirez (Det. Maria Baez) have appeared in episodes this season — the rest of the cast members are originating and building their own roles.

“We all knew that there was this legacy show that we were following. And even though I was coming from that show and had an established character that I knew and viewers knew, what leveled the playing field for all of us is we were all standing in the shadow of Blue Bloods and had to find a way to make this our own together.”  

Continues Wahlberg: “The entire cast had to be together. I couldn’t be the typical Danny, the lone wolf marching to the beat of his own drum. I had to be part of this team. I had to make it empower all the cast to feel that it was their show — and it is. It is now our show. That’s no small thing.” 

Boston Blue airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, with the mid-season finale airing Dec. 19.  

For Donnie Wahlberg, the tight father-son bond portrayed on Boston Blue is not an abstract concept. It’s one firmly rooted in the relationship he has with his own children. 

On the new series — a spinoff of CBS’s Blue Bloods, which ran for 14 seasons — Wahlberg reprises his role as Det. Danny Reagan, who relocates from New York City to Boston to work with and support his police officer son Sean. 

“So many people say, ‘Well, Danny would never leave New York. It’s not believable, and his son wouldn’t want him in Boston.’ I have a 24-year-old son and I can’t tell you how many times he’s asked me in the last year to move back to California to be close to him,” says Wahlberg, who has two adult sons, Xavier and Elijah, with his first wife Kim Fey, and a stepson, Evan, with wife Jenny McCarthy. 

“It’s the most wonderful feeling in my personal life, and I’m watching it play out in my TV life,” Wahlberg, 56, tells PEOPLE. “Every time there’s a doubt that this guy would stay in town, I just think of my son’s text and I say, ‘Oh, you think a son wouldn’t want to be close to his Dad?’ There’s no more reason for Danny to leave New York than for his son.”

Since 2015, Wahlberg and McCarthy have lived in St. Charles, Ill., a quiet suburb outside Chicago. Their filming schedules, however, require weekly commutes to Toronto, where he films Boston Blue, and Los Angeles, where she appears as a judge on The Masked Singer. Wahlberg also spends several weeks a year in Las Vegas, where he performs with boyband New Kids on the Block in a series of musical residency dates.

“Probably the only thing that could ever get me back to California is my two sons. And if they keep asking, Jenny and I are going start going on realtor.com and figuring things out,” he says with a laugh. 

His family, he says, has helped him evolve his character for the new series — especially as his sons have grown up and pursued their own interests and passions, which include following in their father’s musical footsteps. Xavier tours in a hardcore band and Elijah performs with his band Pink Laces.  

“I love the relationship I have with my sons, and I do like having fun and bringing a little of that with me to my TV relationship,” he says. “I think Danny parents a lot different than me, though. He’s a lot tougher than I am. I’m definitely bringing some of the softer side to Danny, which is a more of a reflection of my parenting.” 

Wahlberg’s on-screen son Sean is now played by Mika Amonsen, who stepped into the Boston Blue role after Blue Bloods’ Andrew Terraciano was recast for the new series to advance his police officer plot line. 

“Mika’s been fantastic. He’s coming into a place, that of another actor, and that’s a challenge. Much like the challenge of me carrying on the Blue Bloods universe without Blue Bloods. I could understand what he was going through and it connected us and bonded us in many ways, and I think that resonates on screen a lot.”

Despite needing to build a life-long relationship from scratch, Wahlberg says their bond was evident from the beginning.  

“There are scenes in some of the episodes that I just can’t imagine playing them with anyone else,” says the star. “I’m very grateful that he took the job.” 

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

The chemistry, says Wahlberg, extends to the larger cast, which includes veteran actors Gloria Reuben (District Attorney Mae Silver), Ernie Hudson (Rev. Edwin Peters) and Sonequa Martin-Green (Det. Lena Silver). 

“I’m not surprised by it but I’m just kind of blown away by the friendships we’ve formed already and the tightness that we all have. I really love this little family. I feel very protective of this little family.”

With the exception of Wahlberg and the occasional Blue Bloods character cameo — Bridget Moynihan (Erin Reagan) and Marisa Ramirez (Det. Maria Baez) have appeared in episodes this season — the rest of the cast members are originating and building their own roles.

“We all knew that there was this legacy show that we were following. And even though I was coming from that show and had an established character that I knew and viewers knew, what leveled the playing field for all of us is we were all standing in the shadow of Blue Bloods and had to find a way to make this our own together.”  

Continues Wahlberg: “The entire cast had to be together. I couldn’t be the typical Danny, the lone wolf marching to the beat of his own drum. I had to be part of this team. I had to make it empower all the cast to feel that it was their show — and it is. It is now our show. That’s no small thing.” 

Boston Blue airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, with the mid-season finale airing Dec. 19.