The value of family lies at the heart of Blue Bloods as a whole. Patriarch Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck), who serves as the NYPD’s Police Commissioner, clearly had an impact on his children’s decision to become law enforcement professionals. Their story arcs have all interestingly intertwined throughout the show’s 11 seasons while they’re on the job, yet they still find time to get together every Sunday night to share supper as a family.
Those familial connections have paid off in big ways for the litany of characters on the police procedural as they’ve all gone through their fair share of hardships where they need people to lean onto. Both Frank and Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) are widowers, and Erin (Bridget Moynahan) is divorced from her ex-husband and ended up needing to raise her daughter Nicky (Sami Gayle) mostly on her own. Fortunately, with a big Irish-Catholic family, they’re all willing to lend a hand when necessary.
With such heavy themes connected to family, it only makes sense that it would also extend into the casting as well. Some Blue Bloods fans may have never realized that two primary cast members are actually related in real life.
The actors who play Danny’s sons, Sean and Jack, are brothers in real life
Danny had two children with his wife before she passed away — Sean (Andrew Terraciano) and Jack (Tony Terraciano). Those same last names aren’t just a coincidence; they’re actually brothers in real life too. They were cast on the series in the very first season when they were 6 and 8 years old, respectively. Their characters were those same ages when they were initially introduced, and audiences have been able to watch them grow up over the course of the last decade.
With aging comes changes, and back in 2018, fans were naturally worried when Tony Terraciano wasn’t spotted in a family dinner picture ahead of the new season. Turns out the actor had to step down from appearing in pretty much every Blue Bloods episode since he went off to college (via CountryLiving). His character on the show did the same thing, but he still finds the time to head back to his home in New York when he gets the chance.
Still, spending a majority of their life on a hit TV show hasn’t changed the boys too much. In a 2016 interview with CBS New York, Andrew Terraciano said, “Me and my friends we really all do the same thing except I’m out once a week and I just have to kind of catch up on homework.” Not all the Terraciano kids have been bit by the acting bug it seems like. Andrew actually has a twin sister named Molly, but she hasn’t been seated at a Reagan family dinner just yet. Considering Blue Bloods could continue for quite a while, there’s probably plenty of time for a cameo if she so wishes.