Blue Bloods' Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg on the Makings of 'Genuine' Reagan Family Dinner Scenes (Exclusive)

As Blue blood comes to a close, Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg reflect on what undoubtedly made viewers feel like part of the family — the show’s iconic Sunday dinners.

Over the course of 14 seasons, the cop family dinners became steeped in tradition and allowed the characters to have a weekly check-in as cops doing a dangerous job.

Now that practice has become a part Blue bloodcaption, Selleck, 79, and Wahlberg, 54, look back on how they brought scenes from the story to life for emmy magazineJune issue, excerpted exclusively by PEOPLE.

“In the first dinner scene, I had to be completely committed to this character and who he was and his thoughts on the situation he was dealing with — and be willing to turn the dinner table upside down,” Wahlberg told the publication. , out June 1. “And to do it with Tom Selleck sitting at the head of the table? He’s an icon.”

The cast of ‘Blue Bloods’ in a Sunday dinner scene. John Paul Filo/CBS Jenny McCarthy is on the phone blue blood’ Reagan family dinner scenes while husband Donnie Wahlberg is on set

Knowing that moment would define his character Danny Reagan in the coming seasons, the actor revealed that the writers originally wrote for him to “say his thing and leave it alone” during an argument with another family member.

“Well, that’s not how I saw the character,” he explained. “I had to commit to going there with him. I couldn’t hold anything back, because if I didn’t do it in the pilot, I couldn’t do it later.”

Selleck also revealed that the cast learned that “timing” is key when it comes to pulling off a successful Sunday dinner scene. He added that the scenes are more difficult than expected because the audience is involved in what each character is dealing with.

“The dinner scenes are difficult because your focus is not what you’re eating,” he said. “It’s not really even your lyrics, it’s your subtext. The audience doesn’t care about the words, they want to see the subtext. Family dinners are full of subtext, and the audience is involved because they’ve seen what the characters are going through.”

The cast of ‘Blue Bloods’ for the June issue of Emmy magazine.

emmy magazine

Bridget Moynahan says the end Blue blood Feeling like saying ‘farewell’ to ‘Family’

Although the cast now has Sunday dinners, Wahlberg said it took time for them to evolve from a “really good cohesive crew that respects each other” to a true “family.”

“There’s a genuine love when we get together for the dinner scenes,” he revealed. “There is sincere gratitude at that table. If anyone’s struggling, by the end of that dinner scene they’ll be aware again of how lucky we all are.”

Donnie Wahlberg on the set of ‘Blue Bloods’ in May 2024.

Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Everything you need to know Blue blood Season 14

Wahlberg continued, “The Reagans are lucky to be together on Sundays and to be safe, to have endured another week of very dangerous work, and the cast reminds us how lucky we are as actors. It’s an incredible blessing to have that dinner scene as a sign-in every week, just as the Reagans do, fictionally.”

“For us to have that in real life, it’s a pretty spectacular thing – and I don’t think we’d be here for 14 seasons without it,” he added.

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

Blue blood airs Fridays at 10pm ET on CBS and can be streamed on Paramount+ afterwards.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education