Tom Selleck ‘Had Tears in His Eyes’ Filming ‘Blue Bloods’ Final Season: ‘Likes to Cover His Emotions’
Tom Selleck choked back tears as he watched Blue Bloods costar Donnie Wahlberg film a scene during his last day on set.
Donnie, 55, appeared on Today on Wednesday, October 16, to reflect on the show’s final season. He explained that he was filming a scene with Marisa Ramirez when he looked over and saw Tom, 79, standing in the wings.
“He was there watching. I looked across the room and saw him standing there,” the New Kids on the Block member shared during the interview with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. “Tom he’s a really serious and focused man. He likes to cover up his emotions. He doesn’t like to show vulnerability.”
“I looked across and he had tears in his eyes,” Donnie continued. “That memory for me still brings up a lot for me.”
The Massachusetts native explained that he grew up idolizing Tom, who portrayed the lead in Magnum, P.I. from 1980 to 1988. Getting to work with him and share Reagan family dinners in Blue Bloods episodes was the cherry on top of the career opportunity for Donnie.
“To suddenly now [be] working with this man and he’s there to support me on my last day of work. It filled me with tremendous humility,” Donnie said. “It’s more gratitude, it’s not saditude.”
While much of the cast and crew, including Tom, have been very vocal about not wanting the show to end after 14 seasons, Donnie is grateful for the experience.
“I don’t want to say [I’m] sad, because there are a lot of things to be really sad about in life. This was an amazing opportunity and a wonderful experience,” he said. “I made so many amazing life-long relationships and had a wonderful 14 years with our cast and crew in this city. So I don’t want to say sad. It’s emotional.”
In a recent interview, Tom voiced his frustrations about the show coming to an end.
“I’m kind of frustrated,” the Emmy winner TV Insider on October 3. “During those last eight shows, I haven’t wanted to talk about an ending for Blue Bloods but about it still being wildly successful. In a Top 100 Shows of 2023-2024 (in total viewers, we were No. 9 out of 100), if you discount the three football shows, we’re No. 6! I’m not going to turn into a bitter old guy saying, ‘Get off my lawn!’”
Despite being outwardly upset about marking the show’s final season, Tom maintained that he will not be holding any grudges.
“I don’t believe in holding grudges, but if you were to say to the television network, ‘Here’s a show you can program in the worst time slot you got, and it is going to guarantee you winning Friday night for the next 15 years,’ it would be almost impossible to believe,” he explained. “My frustration is the show was always taken for granted because it performed from the get-go.”
