Blue Bloods - TV Guide Canada: Len Cariou Interview

Source: TV Guide Canada [follow link for complete interview]



TV GUIDE CANADA: Cariou carries on

Len Cariou on the success of ‘Blue Bloods’ and who eats the most on-set

By Greg David
2011-02-18

Len Cariou is a legend of the stage and screens. The Winnipeg native was Broadway’s original Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, appeared on Street Legal, Murder, She Wrote, Brotherhood and Damages.

He can currently be seen on Blue Bloods, playing patriarch Henry Reagan, the curmudgeonly retired police commissioner who dispenses advice – along with mashed potatoes – to son Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) and grandson Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), who have continued in the family business. Blue Bloods is an enticing twist on the cop drama genre, successfully adding a strong family dynamic to the mix in the form of nightly Reagan dinners where the ensemble convene to discuss the days events.

We spoke to Cariou, while he was in Toronto for a Valentine’s Day singing gig, about how the cast came together quickly and who eats the most during those dinner scenes...



... TVG: I love Henry because he is so opinionated about how past cops were and questioning how things are done these days. I love the way he – and you – get to interact with all of the characters at dinner. What’s it like being part of that ensemble every week?

LC: It’s terrific, and I think that’s what everybody has glommed on to. That’s the stuff that, when they tested the show before they bought it and put it on the air, was the most positive things that people said to CBS is that it’s really interesting because it’s a very different cop show. It’s not a lot of procedural stuff. We’re actually going to get to know these people. I think people really responded to that.

When we did the pilot, it was the very first scene that we shot. We didn’t know one another from Adam. None of us had ever met before. God bless actors. We sat down and said, “OK, we’re supposed to be this close-knit family, let’s figure something out here.” We chatted for half an hour while they were setting up the shots, and created our own background, with the help of a couple of the writers. We gave ourselves a back story and then they turned the camera on. I think it worked really, really well.


TVG: How much food do you consume during those scenes? Do you try not to eat?

LC: (Laughs.) I try to eat as little as I can. Wahlberg tries to eat as much as he can! He eats everything!