--- title: Black Mass: What it Got Right About Whitey Bulger & the FBI description: The true story behind the Johnny Depp movie canonical: https://time.com/4043186/black-mass-true-story/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-21T22:15:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:34.073Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The True Story Behind 'Black Mass' og:description: What the film got right and wrong about the story of Whitey Bulger og:url: https://time.com/4043186/black-mass-true-story/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt676654141af39ef9/69885179f887dc4ec4e909c1/johnny-depp-black-mass.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: johnny-depp-black-mass og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The True Story Behind 'Black Mass' twitter:description: What the film got right and wrong about the story of Whitey Bulger twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt676654141af39ef9/69885179f887dc4ec4e909c1/johnny-depp-black-mass.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The True Story Behind _Black Mass_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 21, 2015 10:15 PM UTC  Claire Folger—Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 21, 2015 10:15 PM UTC _Black Mass_, the new Johnny Depp film based on the life of Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, who stood just behind Osama bin Laden on the FBI’s most-wanted list for years, hardly needs to diverge from the crazy true story upon which it is based. Bulger, who was shielded from investigations for years while allegedly acting as an informant to corrupt FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton in the film), was indicted for 19 murders and found guilty of committing 11\. He is currently serving two life sentences plus five additional years in prison. The film sticks closely to its source material, _Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI and a Devil’s Deal_, a book written by former _Boston Globe_ reporters Gerard O’Neill and Dick Lehr. Here’s what is fact and what is added Hollywood drama in the new film. **Fiction: Whitey’s brother Billy put him in touch with FBI agent John Connolly** In the film, John Connolly initially reaches out to Whitey through his state senator brother Billy (played by Benedict Cumberbatch). It is true that Billy and John grew up together in South Boston. However, according to a recent _New Yorker_ [story](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/21/assets-and-liabilities), one of Whitey’s conditions in agreeing to hand information to the FBI was that his brother could not find out he was doing so. “We loathed informers,” Billy Bulger wrote of Irish-Americans who grew up in South Boston in a 1996 memoir. **Unclear: Whitey Bulger gave information to the FBI that helped take down the Italian mafia** The information that Bulger allegedly gave the FBI did help bring down the Patriarca crime family in Boston, according to a [_New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/21/assets-and-liabilities) piece. But Whitey Bulger claims he was never an informant, and during his trial, his lawyers [attempted to prove](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/21/assets-and-liabilities) that the FBI—specifically Connolly—falsified information in order to make Whitey look like a valuable asset and protect him from the authorities. According to Whitey, _he_ called the shots, not Connolly. “I asked the questions, I got the answers,” Bulger said in a [documentary](http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/09/03/was-bostons-most-notorious-gangster-an-informant/) that aired on CNN. “I was the guy that did the directing. They didn’t direct me.” A federal investigation into Connolly found that he did indeed falsify some records, a discovery made at the end of the film. **Probably Fiction: The death of Whitey’s son led to an increase in violence** His son, Douglas Cyr, did die at the age of 6 from Reye’s Syndrome (a bad reaction to aspirin) in 1973\. The boy’s mother, Lindsey Cyr (portrayed by Dakota Johnson) [told](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/24/whitey%5Fbulger%5Fwas%5Fhis%5Fdad/) the _Boston Globe_ that Whitey was “colder” after the death. But Bulger had allegedly ordered many murders before that time. “Whitey was violent long before his son’s death,” Bulger enforcer Kevin Weeks (played by Jesse Plemons) [told](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/20/whitey-bulger-s-enforcer-slams-black-mass-the-movie-is-pure-fiction.html) _The Daily Beast_. **Fact: Whitey Bulger was a test subject for an LSD experiment in prison** In the film, the FBI discusses Bulger’s use of LSD when considering whether he would be a reliable source. Whitey Bulger did indeed participate in an LSD testing program in the 1950s in prison in exchange for a reduced sentence, according to the _Black Mass_ book. The CIA wanted to test the drug on prisoners to see if it could be used as an interrogation tool. **Probably Fiction: Whitey Bulger threatened John Connolly’s wife** _Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI and a Devil’s Deal_ doesn’t mention any incident in which Bulger threatened Marianne Connolly with strangulation, as shown in the movie. In reality, John and Marianne Connolly separated in 1978 and filed for divorce in 1982\. The movie seems to show Marianne remaining at their house for longer in order to put her in the same vicinity as Whitey. **Fact: Whitey Bulger strangled Deborah Hussey** Bulger’s associate, Stephen Flemmi (portrayed by Rory Cochrane) [testified](http://abcnews.go.com/US/whitey-bulger-witness-delivered-stepdaughter-murdered/story?id=19746703) that he tricked Deborah Hussey into entering Whitey Bulger’s mother’s old home and that Bulger strangled her in the basement. **Fact: Whitey Bulger ordered the murder of Roger Wheeler and gunned down Brian Halloran** According to the _Black Mass_ book, the Winter Hill gang laundered money through the World Jai-Alai organization, which governed over the sport of Jai-Alai. John Callahan was president of the organization but stepped down. Later, Callahan suggested that a Winter Hill gangster, Brian Halloran, kill Jai-Alai’s new owner, Roger Wheeler. The _Black Mass_ offers a closer look at how the organization broke down: A different gang member, John Martorano, ended up executing the hit on Wheeler, and Bulger gunned down Halloran, a potential snitch. When Callahan was linked to both murders, Martorano killed him as well, lest Callahan serve as a witness. ### Biopic Actors and Their Real-Life Counterparts  Meryl Streep plays Emmeline Pankhurst in Suffragette Focus; Topical Press Agency/Getty Images  Michael Fassbender plays Steve Jobs in Steve Jobs Universal; Bob Riha Jr—Getty Images  Ellen Page plays Stacie Andree in Freeheld Lionsgate; Tom Spader—AP  Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Philippe Petit in The Walk Sony Pictures; Dave Pickoff—AP  Johnny Depp plays James 'Whitey' Bulger in Black Mass Warner Brothers; AP  André Benjamin plays Jimi Hendrix in All Is By My Side Patrick Redmond—XLrator Media; Photoshot/Getty Images  Adrien Brody plays Harry Houdini in Houdini. History Channel; Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Chadwick Boseman plays James Brown in Get On Up. Universal Pictures; Gilles Petard—Redferns/Getty Images  Ashton Kutcher plays Steven Jobs in Jobs. Open Road Films; Tom Munnecke/Getty Images  Cate Blanchett plays Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. Weinstein Co.; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  James Franco plays James Dean in James Dean. Getty Images (2)  Meryl Streep plays Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Weinstein Co.; Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Benedict Cumberbatch plays Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate. Disney; Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images  Anthony Hopkins plays Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock. Fox Searchlight; NBC/Getty Images  Salma Hayek plays Frida Kahlo in Frida. Miramax; Popperfoto/Getty Images  Gary Oldman plays Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy. MGM; Richard E. Aaron—Redferns/Getty Images  Denzel Washington plays Malcolm X in Malcolm X. Warner Bros.; Truman Moore—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  Leonardo DiCaprio plays J. Edgar Hoover in J. Edgar. Warner Bros.; Bachrach/Getty Images  Ben Kingsley plays Gandhi in Gandhi. Columbia; Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images  Michelle Williams plays Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn. Weinstein Co.; NBC/Getty Images  Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. 20th Century Fox; David Gahr/Getty Images  Daniel Day-Lewis plays President Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln. 20th Century Fox; Culture Club/Getty Images  Don Cheadle plays Miles Davis in Miles Ahead. Brian Douglas, Ton Pouw—AP  Demetrius Shipp Jr. plays Tupac Shakur in All Eyez on Me. Summit Entertainment; Raymond Boyd—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4043186/black-mass-true-story/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4043186/black-mass-true-story/"},"headline":"The True Story Behind Black Mass","datePublished":"2015-09-21T22:15:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:34.073Z","description":"What the film got right and wrong about the story of Whitey Bulger","url":"https://time.com/4043186/black-mass-true-story/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt676654141af39ef9/69885179f887dc4ec4e909c1/johnny-depp-black-mass.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt676654141af39ef9/69885179f887dc4ec4e909c1/johnny-depp-black-mass.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"johnny-depp-black-mass","caption":"johnny-depp-black-mass","creditText":"Claire Folger—Warner Bros. 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