'Blue Bloods': Tom Selleck Reveals Why Family Dinner Scenes Are Extra Special for the Cast

No Blue Bloods episode is complete without the famous Reagan Sunday dinner scene, which has become a staple of the show since it debuted. Fans love the scene since it is a rare chance to see all the characters together since the Reagan family's paths do not often cross when they're on duty. Tom Selleck loves making them for the same reason since it gives the cast an opportunity to reunite once a week as well.

During a stop on The Drew Barrymore Show on April 16, host Drew Barrymore asked if it was true that the Blue Bloods cast often has difficulty completing the dinner scenes because they are all being "little rascals" with each other. Selleck said there was some truth to that. He noted that like many shows with a big ensemble cast, you can go "weeks and weeks" without seeing each other since everyone is off filming their own scenes.

"Look, I love these people," Selleck said of his co-stars. "They're all close friends. So we have a family reunion once a week on the show, but we also have a personal reunion and one sometimes gets in the way of the other. It's great."

The Reagan family dinner scenes have seen new faces in recent years, and Vanessa Ray's Eddie Janko now has a permanent seat after marrying Will Estes' Jamie Reagan. In the Season 11 premiere, Donnie Wahlberg's Danny Reagan finally brought his partner, Detective Maria Baez, played by Marisa Ramirez. When asked about finally getting to join the dinner after eight seasons on the show, Ramirez told PopCulture it was a "very emotional" experience for her.

"It's eight years I've been there now, and it was actually very emotional for me on so many levels, which I didn't share with anyone at the time," Ramirez told PopCulture @Home. First, it was the first time Ramirez had been around so many people without wearing face masks. The second reason was that her grandmother died two weeks before shooting and she was a "huge fan" of the show. "I kept thinking about her while I was there," she explained. "And it almost made me feel more comfortable and calm, and just was able to really take in the surroundings and the warmth and the fact that they welcomed me there. But again, the fact that she wasn't going to be seeing that episode, it was touching a rough spot in my heart."

There is one drawback of filming the dinner scenes: the food. Bridget Moynahan, who plays Erin Reagan, jokingly told PopCulture it gets tiring eating repeatedly during takes. "I don't know if the food is bad but when you're eating for four hours, you just never feel good. Like, I just had a family dinner today and I feel disgusting and I only ate green beans the whole time," she said. "It doesn't feel good."

Blue Bloods is back with another new episode, "Fallen Heroes," on Friday, April 30 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. The episode includes a story involving both Frank (Selleck) and Jamie, who is reprimanded after he contests an arrest report filed by a rising rookie officer. Blue Bloods is also available to stream on Paramount+. Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.