Henry Reagan (Len Cariou) is the man behind the entire Blue Bloods family. He’s the retired police commissioner who’s the father of the current police commissioner, Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck), and while he’s rarely involved with the main plot, his presence is a sort of glue for the rest of the cast members.
As Blue Bloods preps for its fourteenth season, and Henry gets older, the question is naturally raised as to whether he will continue to be a part of the show. Will Henry be written off or will he return after a relatively quiet season 13?
Is Len Cariou leaving Blue Bloods?
The general rule of thumb is that an actor is returning to a long-running show unless otherwise stated, and there have been absolutely no reports that claim Cariou is calling it a day. Despite being 83 years old, the actor is eager as ever to play a role in the show’s talented ensemble.
“When the proposition came to me, my wife got the appointment on the internet from my agent and said, ‘This show, you’re going to get this role playing Tom Selleck’s father and it’ll run for 10 years.’ I laughed at her,” he told Looper in 2022. “We’re only about a generation apart. Lo and behold, [about] 13 years later…”
If the enthusiasm wasn’t infectious enough, Cariou has stated that he wanted to keep playing Henry for another five years!
“We’ve all said, ‘Hey, we want to do 20,’ and that’s even from Tom’s mouth,” the actor told the outlet. “We met with the new mayor of New York [Eric Adams] and he said, ‘Keep it going, guys. Keep on going.’ We’ve injected a lot of money into the city of New York over those 12 years, and the mayor’s saying ‘keep it going’ because it’s good for their commerce.”
In short, Blue Bloods fans have nothing to worry about. As long as the show is around, Henry Reagan will be as well.
