Tom Selleck Reflects On TV Career, Lead Role In CBS' "Blue Bloods"
MIAMI (CBS4) - In the third season of Blue Bloods, the Reagan family is back on the streets of New York City representing the good guys.
In the lead role, actor Tom Selleck, still handsome at age 67.
Selleck plays Frank Reagan, a New York City police commissioner, loosely based on the real commissioner, Ray Kelly who heads up both the force and his family.
"Any leading characters, and the Reagan's are no exception. You really want the audience to walk in your shoes. You've got to find a way to do it. It's a combination of a lot of stuff. If they root for Frank, they understand the weight [real life NYPD commissioner] Ray Kelly has," said Selleck. "I'm not playing Kelly, but I am playing the New York City Police Commissioner and that's a real honor I consider."
A father himself, Selleck says he's tired of the poor role models of some TV dads, like Homer Simpson, and other are.
"I stopped reading the Bernstein Bears to my daughter because the dad was a idiot!" explained Selleck. "I read about five stories to her of this when she was little and I said 'Hannah I'm not reading this to you anymore'. She asked me why and I said, 'because the dad is an idiot!'"
Many know Selleck for his role as private investigator Thomas Magnum in the hit 80's television series, "Magnum, P.I."
On the big screen, his most successful movie ever? "Three Men and a Baby", the number one hit of 1987.
"Disney has talked about some kind of sequel now. That would be fun if Ted and Steve and I could hook up again," he said. "I know all of us would not want to just rip off the audience by just using the title. The last one I heard which I thought was a great idea was 'Three Men and a Bride', where the baby is all grown up!"
And for Selleck, who has virtually grown up himself in the entertainment biz, playing this strong, tough, yet loving father is a role of a lifetime and one he does not take for granted.
"If you're playing a New York City police officer and I believe this, you are playing heroes," he explained. "Now we are trying to make them flawed heroes because they are more interesting to watch, but they are heroes just the same."
Before hitting it big, Tom Selleck's first TV appearances were in 1965 and again in 1967 on "The Dating Game" as a college senior. He lost both times.
"Blue Bloods" is on Friday nights at 10pm on CBS4.
