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Bridget Moynahan: Playing her roles, on and off screen
From one of the sexy âCoyotesâ, Bridget Moynahan has toughened up for her role in the popular police drama Blue Bloods
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From one of the sexy 'Coyotes', Bridget Moynahan has toughened up for her role in the popular police drama Blue Bloods.
Moynahan first caught the public's attention through her role in romantic comedy series Sex and the City back in 1999 before making her silver screen debut a year later playing Rachel, a bartender and dancer in Coyote Ugly.
Since then, the model-turned-actress has appeared in countless movies, from romantic flick Serendipity, science-fiction Battle: Los Angeles and Keanu Reeves-starring thriller, John Wick.
But she says her latest role as assistant district attorney Erin Reagan-Boyle, the sold female in the Irish-American Reagan family in Blue Bloods, has transformed her perspective on the police.
The family comprises Erin's father ' NYPD Police Commissioner Frank (Tom Selleck) and her two police officer brothers, seasoned detective Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and Harvard-educated Jamie (Will Estes). Jamie left his lucrative lawyer job to join the NYPD.
Moynahan said that before starring in the police drama, when passing police officers on the street, she used to focus on their law-enforcement tasks ' not as human beings who were probably having similar problems to those faced by her or her brothers.
'When I think, that's the great part about the series. Some of those issues come up ' whether it is problems with your wife, or being unable to pay bills or getting divorced or the struggle with raising a teenage daughter,' she said during a phone interview.
Blue Bloods, aired by AXN, has just started its fifth season. The latest series opened with Danny pursuing the drug cartel responsible for attacking and stealing a van carrying DEA evidence of US$ 30 million worth of drugs. Meanwhile, his father, Frank, is put in a tough spot after a highly commended lieutenant's action stirs controversy in the NYPD.
The character that she plays, Erin, holds various roles that, at times, develop into interesting dilemmas for the show.
As Moynahan describes it Erin is a single mother working in the DA's office, a sister of 'all these strong characters ' cop, detective' as well as the daughter of the police commissioner. 'I like the relationship that she has with her family even if they don't always get along,' she says.
New characters will emerge in Erin's world.
'She's got a few new characters to work with, people in the office including a new partner, a detective she gets to start working with, which is fantastic because both the actors who play the district attorney and the detective are really strong actors.'
Living and filming the series in New York has allowed her to hear feedback from NYPD cops.
'I always bump into police officers or maybe lawyers, who always comment, like, how much they enjoy the show, how much they love watching it and some of them really try to make sure that we are on top of our game.'
The signature scenes of Reagan family dinners ' where all of the family members gather to share warm moments and, at times, heated debate ' are among the most memorable and enviable moments of the show.
'It's interesting. A lot of people just love the family, and then they share aspects of 'we used to do that, we used to sit around and have dinner with our family',' Moynahan said.
'And I think that's what people are attracted to in the show, they're missing that aspect of their lives they may have grown up with or they are wishing that they could be with their families.'
Off screen, after working together for five years, Blue Bloods' cast and crew are a family too.
'We live together for nine months a year, basically, working together. And we have spent so much time together that people have, you know, gotten sick, have gotten married, have had babies and we kinda all celebrate this different part of life together on a weekly basis,' she said.
Their strong bonding was shown during the recent concert of New Kids on the Block, of which Wahlberg is a member.
'The whole, entire crew just went to the concert. And it was so great to celebrate another aspect of his life together since we all consider him as a brother and knew him earlier in the show. It's moments like that, that makes the show Blue Bloods so special.'
Being in the series has also allowed her to work together with seasoned actor Tom Selleck.
'Working with Tom Selleck, I mean, we really fell into somewhat of a father-and-daughter relationship. He is so kind and he's had so much experience in the business, whether in films or doing successful TV shows. He really has a lot of experiences to share and he is so generous with that,' Moynahan said.
During the break before filming the sixth season, Moynahan plans to spend time with charitable organizations ' like the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children with serious illnesses and the Jumpstart for Young Children, a literacy program for children in low-income neighborhoods ' that she supports.
The break, she said, would give her a bit of time to check in with those organizations ' to see what they are doing and not kind of just show up for events, but really know what's happening at the grass roots.
'And then, spend some time with my family, which is really important to me,' says Moynahan, who has a son from her previous relationship with American football quarterback, Tom Brady.
' Photo courtesy of AXN
