Here’s How Tom Selleck Convinced Donnie Wahlberg To Stay On ‘Blue Bloods’ – ‘I’m Counting On You…’
The final eight episodes of the beloved television drama Blue Bloods, which has been on since 2010, began airing on CBS last Friday. In the lead-up to this premiere, Blue Bloods star Donnie Wahlberg spoke out to recall how his co-star Tom Selleck convinced him to stay on the show many years ago.
Selleck Convinced Wahlberg To Stay On Blue Bloods
Wahlberg, 55, remembered being at the Paley Center in New York for a screening of the very first season of Blue Bloods back in 2010.
“We finished the screening and we were talking after,” he said.
Wahlberg went on to talk about the “people at the top,” specifically the late Leonard Goldberg, the show’s executive producer. He also mentioned show-runner Kevin Wade and Selleck, saying that their support “means a lot.”
“I remember we finished that screening, and Tom and I passed each other in the other room,” he continued. “I don’t know what was going to happen, Tom just said, ‘Hey, I’m really good at fixing scripts and making things better.’”
“And I was like, ‘…okay’. And I already loved Tom, we were already shooting multiple episodes, I was already all in,” Wahlberg added. “I thought he was going to say something like, ‘So if you need help with your scenes or whatever, come talk to me.’”
Wahlberg then revealed what Selleck, 79, told him.
“And so are you. I’m counting on you to keep doing that as long as the show’s on the air,” Selleck reportedly said.
“I knew at that moment that if this show goes for 83 years, I’m not leaving,” Wahlberg concluded. “I gave him my word that day and I stuck to it. It was humbling, it was inspiring. It means a lot, somebody you’ve grown up looking up to tells you, ‘Hey, you’re good at what you do. Keep doing it.’ What better endorsement could I have ever gotten?”
Selleck Thanks CBS
This comes after Selleck spoke out to thank CBS for allowing Blue Bloods to have these eight final episodes, rather than simply canceling the show altogether.
“These eight shows that we can look forward to are because CBS agreed and wanted to do that and celebrate – not only celebrate Blue Bloods but commemorate its legacy,” said Selleck, 79. “And I just wanted to thank them.”
That’s quite the turnaround from his previous attitude towards the network.
The former Magnum P.I. star went on to say that he still has “great faith” in broadcast television as a whole, in our age of streaming.
“I have great faith and have had great faith in broadcast television,” he said. “I think it’s suffered from being put in second or third place. And, you know, I don’t think everybody in the world wants to spend an hour on their remote control looking for what they might want to see.”
Selleck Will Miss Filming Blue Bloods
Selleck then said that he’s proud that Blue Bloods became “an appointment” for fans.
“That was hard at ten o’clock at night … That’s rare,” he continued. “And, as much as anything, it’s a reflection of the work we do. And that’s kind of the ultimate compliment.”
While Selleck is thankful to CBS, he is still sad about the decision to cancel Blue Bloods.
“We’d be working about now on the schedule, and I really miss that,” Selleck lamented. “But what I miss most is my friends, my actor family.”
“That opportunity that we had, that gift of once, every eight working days, seeing everybody,” he added. “You could always look forward to that. It’s two families – the Reagan family and the acting family.”
The next episode of Blue Bloods airs on Friday night at 10pm on CBS. Please tune in so we can show the network just how popular Blue Bloods really is!
