--- description: Ahead of the premiere of his new film The Irishman, director Martin Scorsese has cleared up a long-lingering question about The Departed. title: Martin Scorsese Explains Leonardo DiCaprio's Final Line in The Departed image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d4b711315bddd45/6988782bbc6cfc144f3db249/the-departed.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Martin Scorsese Just Revealed the True Meaning of Leonardo DiCaprio's Final Line in _The Departed_  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Oct 15, 2019 5:07 PM CUT  The Departed, 2006. The Departed, 2006.Andrew Cooper—Warner Bros.  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Oct 15, 2019 5:07 PM CUT **Warning**: This post contains spoilers for the 2006 film [_The Departed_](https://time.com/5534892/the-departed-remake/ "undefined"). Ahead of the Nov. 1 limited-theater premiere of his film [_The Irishman_](https://time.com/5688561/the-irishman-movie-review/ "undefined") — the new movie will hit Netflix on Nov. 27 — director Martin Scorsese has cleared up a long-lingering question about one of his past projects, _The Departed_. In a recent interview with [_Entertainment Weekly_](https://ew.com/movies/2019/10/15/the-departed-leonardo-dicaprio-final-line/ "undefined"), Scorsese finally explained the true meaning behind the last words spoken by [Leonardo DiCaprio’s](https://time.com/5614584/leonardo-dicaprio-volleyball-photo-meme/ "undefined") character, undercover cop Billy Costigan, before he is shot in the head and killed by the corrupt Trooper Barrigan (James Badge Dale). The confrontation in question occurs after Costigan arrests Sgt. Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a mobster mole who has infiltrated the Massachusetts State Police, on the roof of the building where Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) was killed. “Just kill me,” Sullivan pleads with Costigan as they ride the building’s elevator down. “I am killing you,” Costigan replies, a response that left some viewers wondering whether he intended to literally kill Sullivan or knew that turning him in would do the job in a metaphorical sense. Now, thanks to Scorsese, we have our answer. “He was going by the book,” the director told EW. “He’s trying to be a good man.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5700912/the-departed-leonardo-dicaprio-final-line/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5700912/the-departed-leonardo-dicaprio-final-line/"},"headline":"Martin Scorsese Just Revealed the True Meaning of Leonardo DiCaprio's Final Line in The Departed","datePublished":"2019-10-15T17:07:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:34:01.415Z","description":"We finally have our answer","url":"https://time.com/5700912/the-departed-leonardo-dicaprio-final-line/","keywords":["movies","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d4b711315bddd45/6988782bbc6cfc144f3db249/the-departed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d4b711315bddd45/6988782bbc6cfc144f3db249/the-departed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Departed, 2006.","caption":"The Departed, 2006.","creditText":"Andrew Cooper—Warner Bros.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5700912/the-departed-leonardo-dicaprio-final-line/","name":"Martin Scorsese Just Revealed the True Meaning of Leonardo DiCaprio's Final Line in The Departed"}}]}] ```