Tom Selleck has taken every effort to ensure that saying goodbye to playing Frank Reagan won’t be like saying goodbye to a significant part of himself because he is aware of the risks associated with playing the same role for an extended period of time.
The show has officially concluded after 14 amazing seasons, and both fans and the cast and staff are experiencing a bittersweet time. Tom Selleck, the show’s protagonist, may have experienced the loss more keenly than anybody else.
Tom Selleck – Says Nobody Wanted ‘Blue Bloods’ To End
After more than ten years of exciting drama and suspense, Tom Selleck learned a few lessons from his long-running role on the original “Magnum P.I.” about not becoming overly attached to a character, but it didn’t protect him from the grief that surfaced as the program was coming to an end.
The 79-year-old star stated in his most recent interview with Entertainment Weekly that it would “take an enormous amount of getting used to” the show’s July finale before he could go on and genuinely say goodbye.
And it’s not just that he’s gotten too comfortable or too attached to the character, it’s also to do with the people he won’t get to meet at work anymore.
“We loved the show. It was a blessing for 15 years. I mean, we had two families. We had the Reagan family that we portrayed, and quite quickly we had this family of actors who all actually liked each other, which never happens in television. So it was an enormous blessing,” he said.
Tom Selleck Reveals The “Hardest” Part About Wrapping ‘Blue Bloods’
When asked what the “hardest” thing has been for him since the show wrapped, he replied, “The hardest thing I would say at this point [is] right now, this time of year, I would be shooting episodes of Blue Bloods, and I miss that.”
He continued, “The thing that tugged at me most in adjusting and will continue is the family of actors we had and the friendships we formed. And you always say it’s kind of like high school graduation. Everybody says they’ll keep in touch and things happen. Well, that happens in movies too. You say you do a movie, establish relationships, and then it’s over.”
At the moment, though nothing is confirmed, there have been reports of a possible ‘Blue Bloods’ spinoff, and who knows? Maybe we can still see him take part in multi-episode arcs if the spinoff does go ahead.
As for the reason CBS pulled the plug on the show, Selleck said, “My biggest goal is to make sure people realize we went out in rather spectacular success. It wasn’t tired, it wasn’t anything else. Somebody may be able to tell me someday why CBS wanted to end it, but I haven’t had a good answer yet.”
I’m sure fans are equally as confused as well.