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‘Blue Bloods’ Star Donnie Wahlberg Says Cast Got ‘Warned’ About Wearing Police Uniform in Public

During an interview with CBS This Morning, Blue Bloods star Donnie Wahlberg said the case got “warned” about wearing their uniforms in public.

Wahlberg, who plays Danny Reagan in the show, said cops would warn the crew before they shot scenes in public. There were some scenes in the show where a police shooting was portrayed and that could give off the wrong impression, they said.

However, Wahlberg described the warnings as overblown.

“I don’t ever worry when I’m filming in public,” Wahlberg said. “Wherever I am, the more people I can gather, the more fun I have. Whatever neighborhood in New York that we’re in, it doesn’t matter.”

‘Blue Bloods’ in Uniform

Even though the show ‘Blue Bloods‘ is fiction, many of the issues and problems the characters face are based on real-life police encounters.

For example, Vanessa Ray, who plays Eddie Janko in the show, told Long Island Weekly that the experiences of beat cops in New York are an inspiration for the show.

“So many of our storylines are pulled straight from experiences from law enforcement,” Ray told the publication. “We’re not a ripped-from-the-headlines kind of show. We’re definitely more of a personal experience kind of show. We tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may. We don’t tell you what to think.”

For Wahlberg, the show’s “let the chips fall where they may” philosophy is what allows it to explore complex issues from a range of viewpoints.

“Our family gets to explore these issues from all sides. Each of our family members has a different take on these things,” Wahlberg said in the interview. “My character will always side with the cops, but I think he’s starting to be a little more mindful.

However, the show’s star, Tom Selleck, says his character often gets “more license” than a real NYPD commissioner would.

“Frank has done a number of things in the show that if it became public, he could get fired,” Selleck told Parade in an interview. “It may have been the right thing. He did the wrong thing for the right reasons, and the audience will forgive him for it, they know about that, but if it became public in Frank’s world, he’d probably lose his job. You can’t do that in the real commissioner’s office.”

A New Season of Hits

Blue Bloods has become a weekly “must-see” drama since it began airing in 2010. And while many fans are fretting over the show’s future, one of its stars seems contented that it will continue long into the future.

“I don’t think there is an endpoint,” Tom Selleck told PEOPLE in a 2020 interview. “I think there is a lot of life in the show, as long as you let your characters grow and get older.”

Just like with other primetime cop dramas, Selleck said ‘Blue Bloods’ fans have come to know the characters very well. In turn, they can almost predict their every move, he said.

To Donnie, the Reagan family allows its fans an opportunity to live vicariously. Many fans don’t come from families with eight siblings, like Danny Reagan. However, seeing the family on TV allows them to interact with the family in a way that feels natural, Wahlberg told CBS This Morning.

“Wherever I am, everyone always talks about the family dinners,” Wahlberg said. “Why they do is because if you come from a big family, you can relate. If you don’t, you can live vicariously.”

The 12th season of ‘Blue Bloods’ will air in the middle of 2021 and end in 2022.