Which actor eats the most, how long does filming take, other secrets

Blue blood is, at its core, a show about family, and nothing underscores that more than Sunday Dinner with the Reagans.

“The family dinner scene is, in my opinion, by far the most difficult to write and the most complicated to shoot.” Blue blood writer Jack Ciapciak exclusively revealed Us weekly on Tuesday, December 10, before the series finale on Friday, December 13.

He explained: “The shoot is complicated because we have to cover so many actors in one scene. There are a lot of takes, it just takes a long time and people get restless.”

In typical Reagan fashion, the series finale will include a final family dinner at Frank Reagan’s (Tom Selleck) At home with dad Henry Reagan (Len Cariou) and his children, Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), Erin (Bridget Moynahan) and Jamie (Will Estes) plus a few unnamed guests.

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While fans wait to see who will sit at the big table in the farewell episode, Us goes behind the scenes to see what it actually takes to bring these famous scenes together.

They are a lot of work

Ciapciak told Us that during the series’ 14-season run, the writers worked on 293 episodes, each of which focused on the Reagan family dinner. “That’s a lot of family conversations over dinner,” he said with a laugh.

The author noted, “You never want it to feel forced. You want it to feel natural, and it’s the scene that brings people back week after week.” When done right, these scenes ground the show, no matter how hard the Reagans are under pressure.

“Those scenes were always the hardest to get right,” Ciapciak admitted. “How do you just make this scene natural, fun and real? That was by far the hardest part.”

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How long do dinners last?

Moynahan, 53, tells exclusively Us earlier this month Blue blood was “more than a job. It was a huge part of our lives.” That commitment also included filming the intergenerational dinner scenes, which she said lasted at times as long as six hours.

“In terms of time, it ended up decreasing. I think the fastest one came in under three hours, which was remarkable,” Ciapciak responded to Moynahan’s comments.

He attributed the quicker setups to the “excellent” crew and production manager. “Most of our crew has been with the show from day one, figuring out how to shoot these scenes economically. And fortunately they did,” he continued. “The time required decreased over the years and a competition developed between the guest directors.”

Is anyone eating the food?

“It depends from actor to actor,” Ciapciak teased, revealing, “They’ve all developed their own tricks over the years.” He shared that Selleck, 79, “was known for buttering the buns “, while Wahlberg, 55, “used to eat a lot more” but eventually “tapered off over the years.”

Ciapciak recalled that the entire cast was “really good at pushing food onto their plates and getting through meals.” If the actors didn’t eat the meal presented to them, it wasn’t in vain. “The crew enjoyed eating all the leftover food and I know we donated some of it,” he added.

Every Reagan tells a story

According to Ciapciak, making every Reagan shine at the table is no easy task. “You want to make sure everyone has their moment,” he said, explaining that when writing an episode he would see what each character does in their daily lives to support the family scene.

“(I) tried to find those through lines that could bring a conversation together. Then I also thought about it: ‘Okay, who didn’t have the time to shine in this episode?'” he recalls. “‘Was Henry out this week?’ And give him a moment to shine when we haven’t seen him or (Danny’s son) Sean (Andrew Terraciano). You definitely want to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard and that it’s a balanced, genuine conversation.”

Inside the family’s farewell dinner

The cast remained tight-lipped about which other Reagans would take a seat at the final dinner – Danny’s other son, Jack (Tony Terraciano) and Erin’s daughter Nicky (Sami Gayle), both are said to be back – but Ciapciak promised it will be a tearjerker.

“It was an incredible day,” he said of filming The Last Supper. “It was a very emotional day on set, we all gathered together and Tom spoke, and then the cast sort of sat down at the table and everyone spoke and shared what the show meant to them.”

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Ciapciak gushed, “It was a beautiful moment that I was lucky enough to witness,” and claimed, “Viewers will love that final family dinner scene as much as we all do.”

He concluded by saying that while the finale was “emotional,” it was an “exciting” episode to watch. “I can’t think of three perfect works to sum it up, but I would say it’s action-packed,” the author said Us. “It’s full of heart and I think it will be very satisfying for viewers.

Blue blood The series finale airs Friday, December 13th at 10pm ET on CBS.