Donnie Wahlberg says Tom Selleck made him cry filming Blue Bloods finale: ‘Waterworks turned on’

It takes a lot for a tough guy like Tom Selleck to cry. And if Tom Selleck is crying, you better believe everyone around him is too.

Selleck's Blue Bloods costar Donnie Wahlberg wasn't immune while shooting the series' final episode after 14 years on the air. "On the last day, I was filming all my squad room scenes and it's kinda like where I hold court as Danny Reagan, and Tom Selleck came in just to watch," Wahlberg explained on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live.

"When he shows up to watch you work and to be there to say goodbye to everyone," Wahlberg continued, "and like, I'm filming the scenes. I'm already emotional. I look across the room and I see him. He's really tall, and he's standing above everyone in the back corner just watching with tears in his eyes. It just was like the waterworks turned on. I could literally cry just thinking about it."

Donnie Wahlberg and Tom Selleck at a 'Blue Bloods' press conference in 2012.

Wahlberg said he "felt tremendous gratitude, not saditude, but everyone cried. Everyone was crying, of course. The last day was heartbreaking."

CBS first announced the long-running police procedural and family drama would wrap up after 14 seasons in November 2023. Stars like Wahlberg and Bridget Moynahan admitted to being "more upset and sad" than happy about the network's decision, and as recently as this month, Selleck described being "frustrated."

"I'm not going to turn into a bitter old guy saying, 'Get off my lawn!'" he continued. "I don’t believe in holding grudges, but if you were to say to the television network, 'Here’s a show you can program in the worst time slot you got, and it is going to guarantee you winning Friday night for the next 15 years,' it would be almost impossible to believe. My frustration is the show was always taken for granted because it performed from the get-go. So how do I feel? It’s going to take a long time to sort all of this out."

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The cast of 'Blue Bloods'.

Wahlberg said the series' cancellation provoked "a lot of emotions. Right? Because in one sense, the 14 years went by in the blink of an eye. In another sense, it's been 14 years of my life. I didn't even know my wife when the show started."

When host Andy Cohen asked if the series finale felt like a proper send off for the beloved Reagan family, Wahlberg reasoned that "the audience will probably be happy. There'll be a lot of tears. I think the same kind of tears we had, but there is a very sad scene that happens in the middle of the final episode, which will be very emotional. But I think the audience is gonna be really happy because I think there are a lot of things — so to answer your question directly, I think it feels like a finale, but a hopeful, forward-thinking finale."

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Just how forward thinking remains to be seen. At a Paramount Global shareholders meeting in June, co-CEO Brian Robbins named Blue Bloods as among the company's most valuable IPs, explaining that "In TV, new franchise extensions are coming for Dexter, Billions, and Blue Bloods, and CBS' hit Fire Country shows huge promise."

While Wahlberg seems contented with the show's ending, or at least resigned to it, Selleck holds out hope that "CBS will come to their senses." The second half of Blue Bloods' final season premieres on CBS on Oct. 18.