Vanessa Ray and Will Estes Reveal Intriguing Insight: The Hidden Charm of ‘Blue Bloods’ Unveiled
Vanessa Ray and Will Estes Reveal Intriguing Insight: The Hidden Charm of ‘Blue Bloods’ Unveiled
Will Estes and Vanessa Ray bring the fan-favorite couple of Jamko, aka Jamie Reagan and Eddie Janko-Reagan, to life on Blue Bloods. The series is currently in its fourteenth and final season, which will be split into two parts and conclude in fall 2024. New episodes air on Fridays at 10:00 PM, ET/PT on CBS and are available to stream live on Paramount+.
BLUE BLOODS is a drama about a multi-generational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the New York Police Commissioner, and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry, during his stint as chief. A source of pride and concern for Frank is his eldest son, Danny, a seasoned detective, family man and Iraq War vet who on occasion uses dubious tactics to solve cases with his partner and new mother, Detective Maria Baez. Erin, the middle daughter, is a New York assistant D.A. who serves as the legal compass for her siblings and father, while also pursuing a run for district attorney. Jamie is the youngest Reagan, a Harvard Law graduate and the family’s golden boy. Unable to deny the family tradition, Jamie decided to give up a lucrative future in law and follow in the family footsteps as a cop. He’s found a friend and ally in his wife, Eddie, who keeps him on his toes, and has very different reasons than the Reagans for joining the police force.
I was lucky enough to speak with the duo over Zoom and ask them about learning from each other, what Jamie and Eddie’s family traditions would be, big moments of growth for Jamko, what final piece of advice they would give their characters, and more. Keep reading for everything they shared!
Nice to see you! I’ve been watching this show for so many years, it feels crazy to think about not having it on my TV on Friday nights and you two are really the reason I started watching, so this is a dream interview right here. To start off, I want to ask what you have learned from working with each other because you are just magical together and have become such a staple, I think, to Blue Bloods now.
Ray: That’s a great question.
Estes: Gosh, I think one thing I’ve learned working with Vanessa is when I feel off or the scene’s not quite making sense, it’s always better if I just start listening to her and what she’s doing as an actor, and then it clicks in for me. I’ve learned to have a lot of fun. We really get along on and off camera and we laugh a lot, and it just carries you through a day. I think it’s so important to take the work seriously, but not yourself seriously, and I think Vanessa’s taught me that more than anyone I’ve ever worked with.
Ray: Oh, that’s nice. I mean, same, we have so much fun working together. I think for me, especially when we were first starting out, I really didn’t know anything about the cop world. And so, Will really helped me with the technical side of things.
Estes: “Let me tell you about cops! I’m not a cop, but I play one on TV.”
Ray: He was like, “Let me… this is what this means and this is what this means.”
That’s the perfect teacher next to you, right?
Estes: We have a real cop teacher for her, Jim Nuciforo.
Ray: We do have a real cop teacher but Will and I have a shorthand that just kind of came right away pretty naturally. And so, I can’t believe it’s been a decade that we’ve known each other and worked together.
Estes: Nor I. I can’t believe it, it’s really flown by.
Ray: Yeah, it’s really, really great.
I would do a spin-off of just you two. I’m not ready to say goodbye to Jamie and Eddie.
Estes: Me too.
Ray: We’ll do it. We’ll take it.
Estes: We’ll do it. One season, two seasons? Let’s do it. Pitch it!
Ray: Let’s pitch it! Let’s make it somewhere warm.
The last time I spoke to you, Vanessa, you said the crossover you would want to do was with The White Lotus for a vacation, so I feel like that fits very well, right?
Ray: Yes, we would fight crimes on a tropical island.
Estes: You cut off our uniform pants into shorts and I am there.
One thing I’ve been hoping for Eddie and Jamie is that they get to start their own family. I don’t know if we’ll see that and I’m not going to ask you because if you know, I know you can’t tell me, but if they were to start their own family in the future, what do you think some of their traditions would be? Because I love the Sunday dinner tradition that the Reagans have.
Ray: That’s a cool thing to think about. Well, for sure we’d have to do family dinners.
Estes: Family dinners. What other traditions?
Ray: We like to ride bikes, our characters ride bikes together and we’re a nice New York couple, so we’ve got to take our kid to Broadway shows and Central Park on the weekends, do all that stuff. We’ll take them to the museums…
Estes: And a life of service.
Yes, there’s the spin-off right there.
Estes: Any job in uniform shorts is a requirement for any child of…
Ray: The Reagan family.
Estes: Jamko.
If you could take Eddie and Jamie and place them in any different show or genre for an episode, what sort of adventure would you want to see them get up to?
Estes: NCIS: Hawai’i! No, I’m just kidding. Somewhere warm.
Ray: LL Cool J, call us!
Estes: LL! NCIS: Jamaica.
Ray: Well, of course, somewhere tropical and I think it would definitely have to be a comedy. If we could do a guest star on like Abbott Elementary…
I was holding myself back, but when you said comedy, I was gonna say Abbott Elementary.
Ray: Documentary style, we go and we talk to the kids about being police officers.
Estes: We want to keep it going. Once the characters are dead, we want to be on Ghosts.
Ray: Yeah, Ghosts!
Estes: Kill us now and put us on Ghosts.
Ray: We can spend an eternity together.
Both together: Awwwwww!
This is exactly why I called this my dream interview.
Estes: It’s our dream interview too.
Ray: There it is.
