Donnie Wahlberg’s first meeting with Tom Selleck didn’t go too well for the Danny Reagan actor: he was convinced he’d get booted off Blue Bloods the next day.
After fourteen years of working on the show together, the Blue Bloods cast and crew feel like one big family in real life, too — at least, according to Donnie Wahlberg. But at the start of the show, it was also Donnie Wahlberg who had the biggest doubts about this family ever happening, especially with him as the Commissioner’s son.
Donnie Wahlberg Thought He Was Done for
When cast members meet each other for the first time, it’s a crucial moment for their series: that’s when they recognize whether they’ll have chemistry and a good relationship at all. Donnie Wahlberg’s first meeting with Tom Selleck, the on-screen and off-screen patriarch of Blue Bloods, didn’t go too well in the former’s eyes.
But not because they had a conflict or anything; just very conflicting appearances.
“I walked in the room, and [Tom’s] like 6’4″… I’m like 5’11”, I think. I’m like, ‘Oh my god, he’s got so much hair. His eyebrows are so bushy!’ I didn’t even care about the mustache. I was like, ‘How am I this dude’s son?.. They’re gonna fire me tomorrow!’” Donnie Wahlberg recalled on the Brotherly Love podcast.
Indeed, Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg have distinctly different genetics, but fortunately for the Danny Reagan star, TV shows are more about acting than looks.
Wahlberg and Selleck Became a Family
It wasn’t long after the actor got accepted to play Danny Reagan that his relationship with his dreaded on-screen father changed. Tom Selleck, despite his scary “bushy eyebrows” turned out to be the sweetest man, and the two actors became more than just friends — they became a family. They even address each other as such!
“Tom Selleck, I call him Dad. <…> It’s like, we’ve gotten so close. He’s literally like, ‘Oh, hey, son, how are you doing today?’ It’s like, we’ve just become a real family, and it’s going to be a lot to not be with [them] anymore, but I’m sure we’ll stay connected after the cameras aren’t rolling,” Wahlberg shared with Fox News.
See, family is not about how folks look, it’s about how folks feel — ask the unlikely father-son duo of Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg. They would definitely know!
