Donnie Wahlberg has a bit of a reputation as his character on “Blue Bloods,” Detective Danny Reagan. Known for his utter dedication to the law and his willingness to do whatever it takes to capture a criminal, Danny comes from a long line of police officers, with his father Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) the current police commissioner, his sister acts as an assistant district attorney, and his younger brother is a beat cop. The family always gets together on Sunday to have their famous family dinner, and each of their varying outlooks on life, and their jobs themselves, tend to paint the conversation with nuance and opposing views.
Jennifer Esposito plays a non-Reagan on the hit television show, and her role is that of Detective Jackie Curatola. Having acted on the series for three seasons and 46 episodes between 2010 and 2012 (via IMDb), the character is close with Danny, mainly because they are former partners and share a common objective. However, what was their relationship like behind the cameras, and what does Esposito say about working with Wahlberg?
Jennifer Esposito says that Donnie Wahlberg is really fun to be around
On an episode of People TV’s Couch Surfing, which sees famous actors watch episodes of the shows they star in, Esposito commented about her experiences with Wahlberg, and said, “Again, one of the best people I’ve worked with. We had so much fun. I think they needed to make us separate because that’s how much fun we had. We would be cracking up and dancing right before a take and then we’d be like ‘So did he do it?!’” It seems then, despite Danny Reagan’s generally stern demeanor on “Blue Bloods,” that the actor that plays him is actually a ton of fun when the cameras aren’t rolling.
She continued by adding, “You’re on set so long especially doing a drama on TV like this. I mean you’re there long, long hours and he was wonderful.” Wahlberg responded to this particular interview by tweeting, and said that he also had a lot of fun while working with Esposito, and that it was an honor working with somebody he considers one of the best actors currently alive. Judging by these comments from both actors, it appears that both of them thoroughly enjoyed acting with each other on the hit show and the companionship that came from it — why else would they have to be occasionally separated in order to calm down like school children? One would think that a stern look from Frank Reagan would be enough to get anybody to settle down.