‘Blue Bloods’: The Funny Way Cast Members are Called Out When They Mess Up a Line

Scenes from Blue Bloods might look flawless, but the actors do mess up their lines now and then. Here’s what Vanessa Ray and Will Estes said cast members do when someone forgets their lines. Vanessa Ray was fearful during her first ‘Blue Bloods’ family dinner During an interview with CBS Watch! Ray discusses how it …

by Sheiresa Ngo

Published on June 5, 2020

3 min read

Vanessa Ray was fearful during her first ‘Blue Bloods’ family dinner

Will Estes, Vanessa Ray, and Bridget Moynahan on the set of ‘Blue Bloods.’ | Craig Blankenhorn/CBS via Getty Images

During an interview with CBS Watch! Ray discusses how it was for her to shoot her first family dinner scene with the main cast members. The interviewer asked if she had fun or if the experience was chaotic because there are so many cast members. Ray says she initially felt fear when she had to shoot those scenes. Here’s how she described her first Reagan family dinner:

I feel like I had to learn how to act at those scenes from Eddie. That sounds crazy, but my first reaction being at those dinner table scenes with legends—people who’ve been in the business for so many years—was to be scared.

I would walk in and my confidence level was shook, but what was on the page was never that. Eddie speaks her mind. When I came into my husband’s family it was the same kind of thing, and having gone through it on the show, I was able to be more honest in my real life and not shy away from outspoken moments.

What cast members do when someone forgets a line

Estes understands Ray’s fear. During an interview with Connecticut-based TV show Better, he says there’s reason to be afraid because you’re working with actors who have been in the business for a long time.

“It’s a scary room to forget a line at, because it’s a really long scene to shoot and you’re surrounded by consummate professionals,” says Estes. “So, when you go up on a line at that table it’s a lot of people watching you mess up.” Ray says at first, her co-stars are understanding, but after a certain point, everyone is ready to finish up the scene and go home. “At first, they’re all like, ‘No, it’s OK, just take your time, you’re fine,’” says Ray. “Then, after a while, they’re like, ‘We’ve got kids. We gotta go.’”

Estes says the other cast members will make a snoring noise if someone flubs a line during the family dinner scene. “They will snore at you,” says Estes. “Like if you [mess up] a line, and you don’t know you did, they’ll go, [snoring noises]. And you will get called out.”

Ray says this hasn’t happened to her yet. However, Estes says it does happen to him as well as Tony and Andrew Terraciano (Sean and Jack Reagan) a lot.

Will Estes on why viewers continue to watch ‘Blue Bloods’

Tom Selleck | John Paul Filo/CBS via Getty Images

Estes says he believes viewers continue to tune in after so many years because of Tom Selleck. “Tom is our leader on and off the show,” says Estes. “He comes to work and he’s the most studied, he’s the most prepared. He knows character, he knows story. He could write, produce, and direct the show but he maintains he just wants to act on it. I’ve learned a lot just being in his presence about staying ahead of the audience and just all these tricks of the trade and storytelling from all his experience.”