Living the Blue Bloods Life: A Conversation with Bridget Moynahan

Bridget Moynahan calls me during a break in the action from the set of CBS's long-running drama series Blue Bloods, on which she's played assistant district attorney Erin Reagan since the show first premiered, in September 2010. She's just finished filming one of the fan-favorite Reagan family dinner scenes with onscreen dad Tom Selleck, onscreen brothers Donnie Wahlberg and Will Estes, and at least five or six additional Reagans—but the only "fun" part was just being with one another.

Due to the large cast, they require endless hours of attempting to eat Thanksgiving-like meals without feeling sick as they shoot from every possible angle.

A Taste of Set Life: Chili for Four Hours

On the menu today? "Chili," Moynahan says. "Chili for four hours." But chili with a choice, as Moynahan had the option to go vegan or regular. "I went with the vegan," she says, before adding, "I wouldn't say I would reorder it."

But don't for a second think that Moynahan, 50, isn't grateful to be there eating a meat alternative for hours on end.

With Blue Bloods's 12th season premiering in October, she is in rarefied company alongside Ellen Pompeo on Grey's Anatomy and Mariska Hargitay on Law & Order: SVU as one of only a few women actors to have stayed on a drama series in a leading role for more than a decade.

Stability in the Big Apple: Finding Home in New York

"We know how lucky we are to be on this show," she tells me of the job security that Blue Bloods has provided.

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