Tony Terraciano used to be a part of the main cast on Blue Bloods, playing Jack Reagan, but from season 10 onward, his role got smaller and smaller. The 14 seasons of Blue Bloods follow the lives of the Reagans, an Irish Catholic family living in New York City who have a proud lineage of working in law enforcement. Though Blue Bloods was canceled, much to many fans' dismay, the series remains an engaging and thrilling police procedural with an excellent cast at the center of it.
The Reagan family is large and with many branches. Jack Reagan, played by Tony Terraciano, is the eldest son of Daniel (Donnie Wahlberg) and Linda (Amy Carlson). A soft-spoken and mild-mannered young man, Jack is much more even-tempered than his fiery family members. Introduced in the pilot of the series, Jack was a starring character on Blue Bloods until season 10, when he became a guest. The number of episodes he appeared in every season gradually lessened, and so far, Terraciano hasn't even shown up for the final season.
Tony Terraciano Went To College — Just Like Jack Reagan On Blue Bloods
He Studied Neuroscience & Is Now In Med School
Tony Terraciano as Jack Reagan on Blue Bloods | |
|---|---|
Season | Episode Count |
1 | 21 |
2 | 22 |
3 | 23 |
4 | 22 |
5 | 22 |
6 | 22 |
7 | 22 |
8 | 22 |
9 | 7 |
10 | 2 |
11 | 1 |
12 | 1 |
13 | 1 |
14 | 0 |
The in-show reason Jack Reagan stopped appearing in Blue Bloods is that the character went off to college in season 9, episode 5, "Thicker Than Water". The out-of-show reason for Terraciano's departure from the show actually mirrors his character's. Terraciano began attending Vanderbilt University in 2018 (via LinkedIn). There he studied neuroscience and was pre-med, graduating in 2022. After that, he went right to medical school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to earn his Doctor of Medicine, and he's set to graduate in 2026.
Coincidentally, Jack had also expressed an interest in wanting to be a doctor in Blue Bloods. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine is located in the Bronx, New York, just a train ride from where Blue Bloods was filmed on-location. That's how Terraciano could pop in once or twice a season for a guest appearance, ensuring Jack Reagan wasn't completely out of the show, even if Terraciano had another career in mind.
Will Terraciano Continue Acting After Blue Bloods?
Past Interviews Indicate The Actor Isn't Interested In Fame
Tony Terraciano still has "Professional Actor at CBS Television Studios" as his job title on LinkedIn, and everything else on his page looks updated, including his profile photo which appears to be him on a campus, so leaving the acting information seems to be a deliberate choice. Terraciano has not spoken about whether he plans to continue his acting career or not, but getting an MD and working as a doctor is typically not the type of job that allows for a "second source of income" type of life.
Terraciano has had a successful early actor career as an actor in Blue Bloods, but he clearly wants to keep his options open by studying medicine. He's also spoken about not considering himself a star or having an interest in fame, telling CBS News,
"Sometimes I'll be at the movie theatre and someone will recognize me and my friends will be like. I always forgot you're a movie star. I'm like come on."
A life with a career in the medical field will allow Terraciano to be happy, employed, and able to enjoy life as just another everyday person, much like the ones the Reagans are trying to protect in every episode of Blue Bloods.
Jack's Departure Compared To Others Who Left The Show
The Series Has Said Goodbye To A Handful Of Regulars
Most of the main cast… has remained intact during the run…
Jack isn’t the only character to appear less over time. Other regular cast members who have left the series though haven’t simply seen their episode count lessened. Instead, they have left the show completely. In some cases, their character has even been killed.
One of the earliest characters to leave the show was Jackie Curatola, played by Jennifer Esposito. Esposito needed a reduced schedule after being diagnosed with Celiac disease. Instead of reducing her workload, however, producers cut her from the show. Jackie was written out in season 3 with the idea that her character had been burnt out by the detective work and needed a change. Esposito has since returned to the show for guest-starring spots.
Amy Carlson, who played Linda Reagan on the series, rose from a recurring character in the early seasons of the show to become a series regular by season 5. When her contract was up at the end of season 7, however, she opted not to renew it for the eighth season and beyond. Carlson’s character was written off with a death. Linda died in a helicopter crash while helping a patient in between seasons 7 and 8, which meant the actress didn’t even get to appear on screen to close out her time on the show.
Most of the main cast, however, has remained intact during the run of Blue Bloods. It’s recurring characters that have appeared for long stretches of episodes without appearing again. That’s not necessarily uncommon in something like a police precinct where it’s easy to explain that two police officers aren’t working the same cases or are even working different shifts. It’s not as noticeable as those particularly close to the Reagan family.
