Blue Bloods star Abigail Hawk has opened up about filming the final season of the CBS police procedural, which is set to conclude after more than a decade on air
Abigail Hawk, star of Blue Bloods, has shared that her final scenes as Abigail Baker were shot in a cemetery alongside several other main cast members.
In an interview with Screen Time, the actress discussed the show’s return to CBS for its concluding eight episodes after a surprising cancellation announcement.
The final chapters, which bid farewell to Tom Selleck’s legendary character Frank Reagan and his family of committed New York cops, are anticipated to draw millions of viewers.
“My last day, Tom’s last day, gosh, quite a few of our last days on set, was at a cemetery,” Abigail confirmed.
“Which is not giving anything away, but certainly dangling a little teaser”, reports the Mirror.
While Abigail didn’t disclose if any key characters meet their end in the final season, she noted that filming the closing scenes back in June felt almost like an out-of-body experience. She and the rest of the cast are still coming to terms with the show’s ending, weeks after wrapping up the series.
“It was hard,” she continued. “And I felt like I was almost watching myself because it was so surreal and I was so in it that I couldn’t see it, if that makes sense?
“It was almost like being so close to the fire that I can’t actually experience how hot it is.”
The actress, who has featured in numerous scenes opposite Selleck over 14 seasons of the popular police drama, confirmed there were plenty of tears following the final takes.
“We had our wonderful first AD, Tom Tobin, wrap each of us out and say, ‘That’s a series wrap on Abigail Hawk, detective Abigail Baker’,” she recalled. “And the applause and tears were received but also, like, I just wasn’t able to process it in the moment.
“Just the loveliest thing to be hugged by our executive producers Kevin Wade and Siobhan Byrne O’Connor, who have been with us since the beginning.”
Reflecting on Tom Selleck’s notable career, she noted his consistent success, especially post-Magnum PI: “And then to see Tom being wrapped out,” she said. “This wonderful legend of a man who had lightning strike twice. He’s had such an incredible, illustrious career and would have never thought that, after the success of Magnum PI, to have this happen again and create such a venerable character.
“You could see the weight of that on him. We’ve been in touch and we’re keeping the line open. I care so deeply for him. It’s hard, you know? He’s aware of his age but he’s also just still got so much to say.
“And Len Cariou [who plays Frank’s father Henry Reagan] is the same way. You have this 84-year-old who just did this absolutely heart-shattering play, Tuesdays With Morrie, where all of us that were able [to see it] witnessed the mastery of him. He’s not done! In this industry, we hang people up. ‘You’re done’. But there’s so much life there.”
Abigail found her last day on Blue Bloods tough but touching, as she returned home to a surprise collage tribute from her husband featuring the cast. While tight-lipped about the finale’s specifics, she echoed Kevin Wade’s sentiment that it maintains the show’s essence
“It’s just beautifully simple and ordinary,” she said. “There’s a lot of peace in that, because I think it leaves it open to whatever the future might hold.
“You’re not going to see a lot of changes for [Abigail] and I’m okay with that.”
Nevertheless, fans should brace for an emotional journey in the Reagans’ farewell. “When I finished reading the episode I texted Siobhan and Kevin and I wept,” Abigail added. “It is a very fitting way to complete the series. I’m not going to say finish, it’s a lovely way to complete it.
“I’m not going to say if the tears were joy or sadness because maybe it’s both.”
Blue Bloods season 14, part 2 premieres Friday, October 18 on CBS.