Catch up with Tom Selleck, Bridget Moynahan, and more as the CBS series comes to a close.
While television is full of cop dramas, Blue Bloods is in a league of its own. The long-running CBS series follows the lives and trials of a police commissioner (Tom Selleck) and his family of cops, lawyers, and assorted do-gooders. The Reagans have been going strong since 2010, although season 14 was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The network announced later that year that the upcoming season, which is set to air on Feb. 16, 2024, will be the last.
In honor of the show coming to a close, EW is looking back on the Blue Bloods cast, then and now. What have the actors been up to behind the scenes for the last 14 years? It’s time to find out (but make sure you’re back in time for family dinner)!
1. Tom Selleck (Frank Reagan)
Tom Selleck has always anchored Blue Bloods thanks to his mustachioed star power and impressive resume. He was already a household name thanks to Magnum, P.I. (1980–1988), which earned him five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, winning once in 1984. He also made his mark in movies like Three Men and a Baby (1987), but Selleck has mostly flourished on the small screen, such as his notable guest star turn on Friends. But his most prominent television role in recent memory is playing New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods.
It was tough to bring Frank to life, but the actor relished the challenge. ”Blue Bloods was the first really character-driven script I’d seen in a long time that wasn’t real sweet-saccharine. I mean, these were life-and-death issues,” Selleck told EW in 2012. “The job of New York City police commissioner is about as hard as any job probably in the world, and to get a chance to pay homage to that character and play the patriarch of a family was appealing.”
Selleck has kept busy offscreen as well, namely by replacing Charlton Heston as the NRA spokesperson in 2003. During the contentious 2016 presidential election, he eschewed supporting Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, doing what his Regan character would likely do: writing in former Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown for president.
The famous actor courted serious controversy in 2015 when he allegedly transferred 1.4 million gallons of water for his avocado farm during a major California drought. He ended up settling matters out of court.
Selleck married actress Jacqueline Ray in 1971, adopting her son before their divorce in 1982. He later married Jillie Mack in 1987, and they share one daughter.
2. Donnie Wahlberg (Daniel Reagan)
He may have become famous as one of the New Kids on the Block, but Donnie Wahlberg’s Hollywood career is far from “new.” The actor, who is the older brother of Mark Wahlberg, previously appeared in several high-profile films, including The Sixth Sense (1999) and three Saw movies (2005–2007). Walhberg also starred in the acclaimed miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), but his most extensive television role has been NYPD Detective Daniel Reagan (oldest son of Frank Reagan) on Blue Bloods.
Just like those of us watching at home, he was also relieved that the series was renewed for one final season. “I love Blue Bloods, and I think if there wasn’t a season 14, the loyal fans of the show would be very, very outraged,” Wahlberg told PEOPLE in 2023. “They’re part of the Reagan family. The audience is the extended family.” In addition to hosting and producing the series Very Scary People (2019), the actor has also appeared as Cluedle-Doo on The Masked Singer (2021). Wahlberg married Kim Fey in 1999. They had two children together but divorced in 2008. He later married Jenny McCarthy, an actress and former host of The View, in 2014.
3. Bridget Moynahan (Erin Reagan)
Bridget Moynahan hit the ground running with a recurring role on Sex and the City as Natasha (1999–2000). She soon appeared in films like Coyote Ugly (2000), I, Robot (2004), and the first two John Wick movies (2014–2017), but she’s best known for playing Frank Reagan’s daughter, Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan, on Blue Bloods since 2010. Moynahan discovered her growing fame on the show in a very postmodern way. “A friend of mine was apparently filling out the crossword, and I was one of the clues,” Moynahan told PEOPLE in 2019. “So, she sent me a photo of it… I did feel like I made it, you know, to be in a crossword. I don’t think it was the New York Times one, so I still have that next step.”
Recently, she reprized her Sex and the City role for one episode of And Just Like That (2021).
As for her personal life, Moynahan dated football star Tom Brady from 2004 to 2006. They share one son. In 2015, she married Andrew Frankel and became stepmother to his three sons
4. Will Estes (Jamie Reagan)
Before starring in Blue Bloods as Officer Jamie Reagan, the youngest son of Tom Selleck’s Frank, Will Estes was known for the NBC drama series American Dreams (2002–2005).
We now know Blue Bloods will end in 2024 with season 14, but back in 2021, Estes expressed wanting to be in the loop about how the series will eventually conclude. “I hope we know that it’s coming and wrap it up so in some ways it can be like a movie, you want a fitting end to a story,” he told Looper. “And so I do hope we get a chance to… wrap things up and watch these characters walk off into the sunset.”
Estes previously dated Jennifer Love Hewitt in 2004 and Torrey DeVitto in 2020.
5. Len Cariou (Henry Reagan)
Len Cariou came to Blue Bloods as a major veteran of the stage and screen. He was already a Tony-winning actor for playing the titular character in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (1979). As for film, he was known for A Little Night Music (1977) and Flags of Our Fathers (2006). He also had a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote and received an Emmy nomination for playing Franklin D. Roosevelt on HBO’s Into the Storm (2009). He followed that success with his ongoing stint on Blue Bloods as Henry Reagan, Frank’s father and the former New York City police commissioner.
The actor was happy to get the role, but he later admitted it was a bit surreal. “Who’s going to buy me being Tom Selleck’s father?” he quipped to Looper in 2022. “We’re only about a generation apart.” Cariou is just six years Selleck’s senior, but they’ve nevertheless pulled off the father/son dynamic onscreen.
Cariou has mostly focused on Blue Bloods in recent years, though he found time to appear in films like Prisoners (2013), Spotlight (2015), Bumblebee (2018), and Death Wish (2018). He will also star in the upcoming movie Wake.
He’s been married to actress Heather Summerhayes since 1985. They have one child, Laurel.
6. Sami Gayle (Nicky Reagan-Boyle)
Although she’d previously acted as a child star on Broadway, Sami Gayle got her big break on Blue Bloods as Nicky Reagan-Boyle, Frank Reagan’s granddaughter. She was just 14 years old when she joined the cast in 2010, although her onscreen mother, Bridget Moynahan, took her under her wing.
“Bridget has been like an additional mother, and I am forever indebted to her for showing me what it means to be an honorable, kind, talented, and independent woman,” Gayle told Glitter Magazine in 2020. “Watching her over the years has helped me to become a better actor.”
She continued, “My favorite thing about our scenes together is that they often tackle universal, mother/daughter experiences. I always walk away having gleaned something about a situation I’ve encountered with my actual mother or with foresight as to how to deal with a situation in the future.”
Gayle stopped being a series regular on Blue Bloods after season 10, although she appeared in one-off episodes in seasons 11 and 13. She’s since graduated from Columbia University (just like her character) and originated the role of Adele in Andrew Llyod Webber’s 2023 Broadway musical Bad Cinderella.
7. Vanessa Ray (Eddie Marie)
Before joining Blue Bloods in season 4, Vanessa Ray was known for playing Teri Ciccone on the soap opera As the World Turns (2006–2010), Jenny Griffith on Suits (2011–2012), and Charlotte Drake on Pretty Little Liars (2012–2017). She’s since made an impression on viewers as Officer Eddie Marie, Jamie Reagan’s partner in (fighting) crime. Once that partnership became physical, the actors’ chemistry became something fans cherished.
Ray also enjoyed the budding romance because it gave her a new challenge as an actor. “You’re always excited to be able to explore a new side of your character,” she told EW in 2016 after Eddie and Jamie finally kissed. “…[W]e all have such strong opinions about how this love relationship story should go and how this should go. It definitely has been fun to play it. It colors a lot of things now more openly than it did before.”
She’s mainly focused on Blue Bloods since 2013 and will carry her role into the 14th and final season.
Ray was married to actor Derek James Baynham from 2003 to 2009. She later wed Landon Beard in 2015.
8. Marisa Ramirez (Maria Baez)
Marisa Ramirez had extensive television experience thanks to her work on soap operas like General Hospital (2000–2002) and The Young and the Restless (2006–2007). She joined the Blue Bloods cast in season 3 as Detective Maria Baez, Danny’s partner. It took time for the Reagans to warm up to her character, and the actor was ecstatic to participate in one of their famous family dinner scenes.
“I so badly wanted to say something to Tom [Selleck] about the fact that, ‘My grandmother was such a huge fan of yours,’ but I knew I wouldn’t have been able to get out the words without crying,” she told Pop Culture in 2021. “I kept thinking about her while I was there, and it almost made me feel more comfortable and calm, and just was able to really take in the surroundings
9. Jennifer Esposito (Jackie Curatola)
Jennifer Esposito’s prior acting credits include film roles in Summer of Sam (1999) and Crash (2004) as well as the TV series Spin City (1997–1999). Her career soon got a boost from Blue Bloods, where she played Detective (and later Chief) Jackie Curatola.
Esposito’s time on the series wasn’t a dream come true, though. She had to limit her schedule after she was diagnosed with celiac disease during season 3. Her character was subsequently written out of the show in 2012. As EW reported in 2012, the actor then took to Twitter (now X), citing, “CBS didn’t listen to my doc and I collapsed on set. Which everyone saw! After a week off my doctor said I could return to work but CBS… Implied that I was NOT truly ill and this was a scheme to get a raise!”
Since her fraught departure, Esposito has appeared in several high-profile television shows, including The Affair (2015–2017), The Boys (2019–2020), and Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens (2020–present). Surprisingly, she came back to Blue Bloods for the season 13 finale.
Esposito was previously married to Bradley Cooper for five months between 2006 and 2007 and to Louis Dowler from 2014 to 2016. She’s been with her current husband, Jesper Vesterstrøm, since 2020.
10. Amy Carlson (Linda Reagan)
Amy Carlson was previously known for her roles in television shows such as Another World (1993–1998) and Third Watch (2000–2003) before joining Blue Bloods in 2010. Carlson played Danny’s wife, Nurse Linda Reagan. The show helped to elevate her profile, but she eventually wanted to take on other challenges, resulting in her departure in 2017 after season 7. The writers could have handled her exit in any number of ways, but in a shocking twist, they decided to kill Carlson’s character. “I didn’t know they would do that, I was surprised. I wouldn’t have done that,” she told Deadline. “I’m not sure how I would’ve chosen it but I just know that for the fans to have a way to grieve, to move through it, I think it would’ve been nice for them.”
Carlson has since appeared in television shows such as The Society (2019) and FBI: Most Wanted (2020) as well as short films like Sunny Daze (2019) and Know Fear (2021).
She married Syd Butler in 2004. They share two children.
11. Steve Schirripa (Anthony Abetemarco)
Steve Schirripa had quite a television career by the early aughts, playing Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos (2000–2007) and Leo Boykewich on The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2013). He’s been an integral part of Blue Bloods since season 6 as Detective Anthony Abetemarco, and to hear him tell the story, working on the show is a singular experience.
“I love the cast… We all get along. I’ve never, ever seen one thing on the set of Blue Bloods [like an] argument,” Schirripa told Looper in 2022. “I saw some on The Sopranos. There was fighting like brothers and sisters, but not once have I seen any of that on Blue Bloods. Everyone’s completely respectful. It’s a different vibe.”
In addition to his live-action roles, Schirripa has done voice acting, recently working on the animated film Under the Boardwalk (2023). Offscreen, the actor has proven to be a man of many talents, penning a series of comedic books with tongue-in-cheek titles like A Goomba’s Guide to Life. He also created a line of organic vegan pasta sauces.
Schirripa married Laura Lemos in 1989. They have two daughters, Bria and Ciara.
