The ‘Blue Bloods’ star says goodbye to Frank Reagan, looks back on his ‘Friends’ role and throws his Stetson in the ring for a new Western.
There’s something different about Tom Selleck these days, and it’s not just the charming goatee he’s added to his trademark mustache. With Blue Bloods having wrapped up after 14 seasons, the handsome and always likable 6-foot-4 actor jokes that he is “unemployed,” but the 79-year-old has no plans to retire. He just doesn’t know what his next project will be.
“I wouldn’t say [offers] are pouring in, but maybe some people are thinking of me.”
The Detroit-born, Los Angeles-raised Selleck wouldn’t mind if one of those people was Taylor Sheridan, especially if the Yellowstone creator has a cowboy role up his sleeve for the star of six Westerns, including Quigley Down Under and Shadow Riders.
“A good Western’s always on my list,” he says. “I miss that; I want to sit on a horse again.”
Selleck’s love of the country lifestyle is a big part of why he lives on a 65-acre ranch. It used to be a working avocado ranch, but the California drought decimated its trees.
“We have a little avocado harvest every year,” he says of the ranch, which he shares with his wife of 37 years, Jillie Mack, 66, and their daughter Hannah, 35, who is the owner of a boutique equestrian breeding and training operation.
Acting was an “accidental” career for Selleck, who fell into the business. His dream was to be a professional baseball player, but when he took a theater class at Los Angeles Valley College for an easy A so he could transfer to USC, he ended up on a different path. Selleck acted steadily through the ‘70s but he didn’t make it “big” until 1980, when he was cast as Magnum P.I.’s Thomas Magnum, the role that made him a household name. The long-running role of Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods only added to that fame.
“I don’t know where my next job will take me,” Selleck says. “People ask, ‘What do you want to do next?’ I’m not sure. I don’t want to do Frank Reagan II.”
For this week’s Parade cover story, Selleck reflects on his legendary past—especially the years spent on Blue Bloods—and his bright future.
Tom Selleck Parade Cover
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Your buddy Sam Elliott did a project with Taylor Sheridan. Wouldn’t it be great if Taylor put the two of you back together again?
Sam was great in [1883]. Sam’s always great. We go way, way back. I love him dearly. I’d love to work with Sam.
It’s hard to pick, but do you have a favorite of all the roles that you’ve played?
I have a lot of favorites for different reasons. Certainly, Three Men and a Baby was a favorite. It was the No. 1 movie in the world. I’m very proud of Quigley Down Under, which has passed the test of time and is still very, very popular. That was a big Western and he was clearly an iconic hero. I don’t mind saying I was a little anxious to play a part that maybe John Wayne could have done better.
Obviously, Magnum and Blue Bloods are among my favorites. And I did some movies that didn’t necessarily get the proper release, but I’m quite proud of. Sometimes you can do everything right and it just doesn’t work out at the box office, which is where they like to keep score.
How do you celebrate now?
Christmas is something for Jillie and Hannah and me, really. Maybe we go to one of my brothers’ or my sister’s house for a while, but mainly it’s family time just for us.
You have your 80th birthday coming up on Jan. 29. Any special plans for celebrating that? It’s a milestone.
None whatsoever. I’m trying not to count. I stopped celebrating birthdays a while back. I intend to keep working. I’ll probably have dinner with maybe my brother and my sister and Jillie, just go out to dinner, kind of be quiet and not make a big deal of it.
I can hardly wait to see what you’re going to do next.
Well, I can’t, either. But I’m sure it’s something!
