Why The Blue Bloods Cast Was Hesitant To Shoot The First Family Dinner Scene

During a 2017 panel discussion on New York’s 92nd Street with fellow Blue Bloods cast members, Len Cariou revealed that when the Blue Bloods cast first gathered to film Season 1, Episode 1, they were told, that the first scene to shoot would be the family dinner scene. Cariou, who brought extensive theatrical experience to Blue Bloods, said the cast was taken aback by the choice and “we all said [producer] Leonard Goldberg, “Why are we doing this in the first place?” I mean, we don’t even know each other. So, on the spot… we came up with a backstory for what we did.” And I said, “Well, I guess I was a cop too. We were all Marines – the three of us were Marines.” Outsider).

Tom Selleck added that at that early stage, the show didn’t have a “bible,” the Hollywood term for a book held by producers that contains basic basic knowledge about the characters, and which the writers and actors use as a reference when it comes to revealing a character’s story. called. “He just wasn’t on the show,” Selleck said. “He didn’t have a backstory.”

At 264 episodes, Blue Bloods’ bible no doubt spans several volumes, but some of the information in it comes from the actors themselves, not the usual source of smoky writers’ room. Perhaps relying on an experienced and talented cast to provide backstory and character development is a big part of what gives Blue Bloods its unique charm. By now, the actors are intimately familiar with their characters, and bringing those dinner scenes to life is probably a much less intimidating task than it was on those first shoots a dozen long years ago.