Tom Selleck is famous for many things — one of those being his big, busy mustache.
But Blue Bloods fans will be stunned to discover that his facial hair almost didn’t make it into the show.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Tom confessed that in 2010, when he landed the role of police commissioner Frank Reagan he’d planned to do it clean-shaven.
“Leonard Goldberg, the creator, later told me that he freaked out inside,” Tom said of his initial decision to shave off the mustache.
“He was like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, let me check with the network.” Then, ‘Tom, the network is insisting.’ So it’s a thing.”
Tom said he initially wanted to shave off his mustache for the role
It wouldn’t have been the first time he would have acted without it, but Tom recognizes his most famous roles have been with a ‘tache.
“Look, I was born without it,” the Magnum P.I icon added. “It’s not as important to me as it seems to be to people. And every month or so, it’s completely new.
“The hairs have grown out, they’ve been trimmed. So I don’t know, it’s something I live with. I don’t resent it, but there’s more to the work than a mustache.”
Tom will soon wrap up his role on Blue Bloods with the long-running NYPD show coming to an end after season 14B has aired.
In November 2023, it was announced that the show had been canceled by CBS.
At the time, Tom shared his frustrations, telling TV Insider: “CBS will find an awful lot of people aren’t ready to say goodbye to it. The show’s more popular than ever, and I think [numbers] will increase with the interest this year. We’re certainly not out of ideas.”
Noting that he’s not ready to retire just yet, the 79-year-old remarked: “I’m not counting the days so I can do something else. I love the work. Sometimes the hours are a little harder because I’m older, but so what? I want work as long as they’ll have me.”
One major reason Tom hopes to continue working is so that he can afford to stay on his 63-acre Californian ranch.
“You know, hopefully I keep working enough to hold onto the place,” he told CBS about living on his farm.
Correspondent Tracy Smith asked: “Seriously, that’s an issue? If you stopped working?”
To which Tom wistfully responded: “That’s always an issue. If I stopped working, yeah. Am I set for life? Yeah, but maybe not on a 63-acre ranch!”
