Blue Bloods is one of the biggest cop shows of all time, and it doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down anytime soon despite being almost 13 years old. No one wants to be bored of the show just yet, but over these years, a lot of things have happened in the background that most fans probably don’t even know about. In this video, we’re gonna look at the behind-the-scenes facts all fans should know.
First up, facts about the Reagan family. Tony Taracciano and Andrew Tirachiano play Danny Reagan’s two sons in the show Blue Bloods, but they’re actually brothers in real life too. Even the age difference between Tony and Andrew on the show is the same as their age difference in real life. Tony plays Jack, the eldest of Danny’s sons, while Andrew plays Sean, the younger son. Before landing these roles at eight and six years old, Tony and Andrew had already established success as child actors. While they only have one another as siblings on screen, their family off-screen is even larger. Andrew actually has a twin sister named Molly too.
Another fact about the Reagan family is actually about Tom Selleck’s iconic look. During the production phase of the first season of Blue Bloods, producers wanted Selleck to shave off his mustache because they thought he looked too old with it. But the CBS executives disagreed and felt the mustache only added to Thomas Magnum’s macho appearance. So in the end, Tom Selleck got to keep his signature look, and thank goodness he did. Commissioner Reagan just wouldn’t be the same without that intimidating facial hair. A true testament to how important image can be when it comes to creating an iconic character.
Moving on behind the scenes, the Reagan family dinner and the location of the iconic house. The beloved family dinners of Blue Bloods were quite the production to film. To get all the shots necessary, it could take as long as five hours for close-ups and coverage of up to nine different characters, plus having to reset the table with the food after each take. The actors had their own ways of dealing with the long shoots. Bridget Monahan would just laugh it off, while Donnie Wahlberg would have to nap on a couch next to the dining room set because he would always eat all the prop food. Tom Selleck was said to try his best at eating all the meat off his plate but had to use a spit bucket for everything else. Selleck actually did a pretty smart trick to get through the filming of the dinner scenes without feeling overly full. During a shot, he would pick up a knife and start buttering his bread. This way, he wouldn’t look out of place while not having to finish his food. Another thing you probably didn’t know about the dinner scenes is that the flatware is actually fake. Early episodes of Blue Bloods featured real metallic silverware, but it was too loud for production because of all the banging noise. So they replaced them with plastic utensils instead.
Commissioner Frank Reagan’s family dinner scenes were a regular feature in almost every episode of Blue Bloods. These conversations usually revolved around moral and professional matters and were shot at a modified CBS studio. But the house’s exterior featured on TV was taken from an actual home located in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and the house is owned by Maronites. Although it isn’t open to visitors, you could easily catch a glimpse of it if you’re walking by.
Moving on, actor Adrian Matia is a real-life EMT. Adrian Matia, an emergency medical technician from Jersey City, New Jersey, showed up as an extra and background actor in the early seasons of Blue Bloods. It wasn’t really supposed to be anything too serious, but he enjoyed the process so much that he decided to pursue more acting opportunities outside his day job. One of his first biggest roles on Blue Bloods was a bit ironic, not as an EMT or police officer, but rather as a drug dealer.
And there’s a reason why people kept leaving. Amy Carlson’s departure from Blue Bloods was a shock to many fans since she’d been one of the original characters since the premiere, playing Linda Reagan, wife of Danny and an accomplished nurse. Her character had become quite popular and appeared in most episodes, but then, out of the blue, Linda died in a helicopter accident off-screen. No one was expecting anything like this to happen, not even the actress herself. From what it seems like, Amy Carlson talked about her disappointment with how this was handled by the showrunners, admitting that she would have liked for her character to have some sort of proper goodbye on-screen. Even though she hasn’t been asked back for Season 8 yet, Carlson has said before that she’d love to return if given the opportunity.
