Tom Selleck Says He's Ready to Saddle Up for a Taylor Sheridan Role (Exclusive)

There's something different about Tom Selleck these days, and it's not just the charming goatee he's added to his trademark mustache. With Blue Bloods having wrapped up after 14 seasons, the handsome and always likable 6-foot-4 actor jokes that he is "unemployed," but the 79-year-old has no plans to retire. He just doesn't know what his next project will be.

“I wouldn’t say [offers] are pouring in, but maybe some people are thinking of me.”

The Detroit-born, Los Angeles-raised Selleck wouldn’t mind if one of those people was Taylor Sheridan, especially if the Yellowstone creator has a cowboy role up his sleeve for the star of six Westerns, including Quigley Down Under and Shadow Riders.

“A good Western’s always on my list,” he says. “I miss that; I want to sit on a horse again.”

Selleck’s love of the country lifestyle is a big part of why he lives on a 65-acre ranch. It used to be a working avocado ranch, but the California drought decimated its trees.

“We have a little avocado harvest every year,” he says of the ranch, which he shares with his wife of 37 years, Jillie Mack, 66, and their daughter Hannah, 35, who is the owner of a boutique equestrian breeding and training operation.

Acting was an “accidental” career for Selleck, who fell into the business. His dream was to be a professional baseball player, but when he took a theater class at Los Angeles Valley College for an easy A so he could transfer to USC, he ended up on a different path. Selleck acted steadily through the ‘70s but he didn’t make it “big” until 1980, when he was cast as Magnum P.I.’s Thomas Magnum, the role that made him a household name. The long-running role of Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods only added to that fame.

“I don’t know where my next job will take me,” Selleck says. “People ask, ‘What do you want to do next?’ I’m not sure. I don’t want to do Frank Reagan II.”

For this week’s Parade cover story, Selleck reflects on his legendary past—especially the years spent on Blue Bloods—and his bright future.

Paulette Cohn: You commuted to New York to film Blue Bloods every two weeks for 15 years. What’s it like to not be working?

The hardest part for me is we had the Blue Bloods family and we had the actors’ family. They’re all my pals. I miss them. It’s going to take a lot of getting used to.

There’s talk of a spinoff. What do you think that might look like and would you be interested in being a part of it?

I’m open to suggestions because I love Frank Reagan, but nobody’s really asked. I don’t see him retiring and going off somewhere. If he goes off to a small town, I’d rather do more Jesse Stone movies.

Is there a new Jesse Stone in the works?

I haven’t worked on it yet. It would be an interesting challenge because Jesse is older now. There’ve been quite a few years between shows. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a viable character. Everywhere I go one of the things I get asked is, “When can I see another Jesse Stone?”

Do you have a favorite scene or memory from your time on Blue Bloods?

We were the first show that was allowed to shoot at the 9-11 memorial. That was a special privilege and an important thing for our show. But I have a lot of favorites, I’m happy to say.

Did you take mementos from the Blue Bloods set?

When I started the show, I bought a watch to celebrate. But it was Frank Reagan’s watch. It was a period Rolex. I had it engraved on the back, “From Danny, Erin, Joe and Jamie.” I wore that every show. I still have it.

Also, I knew he was a Marine, so I bought a Marine Corps ring and had it engraved inside accurately. Those things mean something. I couldn’t bring his desk with me, but that would have been neat.

Related: Fans Will Love How End of Blue Bloods Will Be Celebrated

Your buddy Sam Elliott did a project with Taylor Sheridan. Wouldn’t it be great if Taylor put the two of you back together again?

Sam was great in [1883]. Sam’s always great. We go way, way back. I love him dearly. I’d love to work with Sam.

You also had a 10-episode arc on Friends, which is very popular on streaming. What’s it like to have a new fan base in the younger generation from your role on Friends?

People talk to me about my role on Friends all the time. It was a lovely experience, something I didn’t see coming. They just explained this idea and you had to make a leap of faith. They didn’t have a script or anything. I remember I was supposed to do three shows, and on the third show at the table read, somebody said, “Oh, that’s right, this is your last show. I wish you could come back.” I said, “Well, nobody asked me.” So that turned into 10 shows.

Would you like to do another comedy?

I would love to do another comedy. The right kind of comedy. Friends made people laugh and cry at times. That’s the kind of comedy I enjoy doing. Three Men and a Baby had that, too.

There are some great comedies, like Hacks with Jean Smart and The Kominsky Method starring Michael Douglas. I can see something like that for you.

A half-hour comedy is something I miss doing. We always tried to find the humor in Frank Reagan, which is sometimes hard with him.

Your memoir, You Never Know, is now out as an audiobook. What was it like to relive it as you narrated it?

It was emotional to write. I would write in the late afternoon for three hours and then I’d sit down to dinner. I would read parts of the book to Jillie, the part I just wrote. It’s one thing writing an emotional part. It’s another when I would read it. It would catch me emotionally when I didn’t realize it.

In your memoir, you also credit James Garner as your mentor.

Frankly, I owe my career to a decision he helped me make, which was turning down the initial offer for Magnum. That was a big decision, and it was Garner who gave me the advice—not what to do, but how to think about the opportunity or the idea of moving on.

It’s hard to pick, but do you have a favorite of all the roles that you’ve played?

I have a lot of favorites for different reasons. Certainly, Three Men and a Baby was a favorite. It was the No. 1 movie in the world. I’m very proud of Quigley Down Under, which has passed the test of time and is still very, very popular. That was a big Western and he was clearly an iconic hero. I don’t mind saying I was a little anxious to play a part that maybe John Wayne could have done better.

Obviously, Magnum and Blue Bloods are among my favorites. And I did some movies that didn’t necessarily get the proper release, but I’m quite proud of. Sometimes you can do everything right and it just doesn’t work out at the box office, which is where they like to keep score.

You had an avocado grove on your ranch, but you don’t like avocados, right?

I don’t. I know what they taste like now, because David Letterman made me eat one and I gagged. I’m not much of a vegetable guy. I was a very fussy eater as a kid. I was afraid to spend the night over at a friend’s house because I was afraid of what they’d have for dinner. I grew up on a pretty simple diet.

The holidays are coming up. Do you have family traditions?

We had a ritual at the ranch for years. It’s an old hunting lodge that was built in 1910. All the Selleck family, my brothers and sisters, my mom and dad, we’d all open presents in the lodge and then go over to the house and have dinner. It’s gotten impossible because my mom and dad are gone and my brothers and sisters all had kids and now they have kids. We’d need to rent a hall.

How do you celebrate now?

Christmas is something for Jillie and Hannah and me, really. Maybe we go to one of my brothers’ or my sister’s house for a while, but mainly it’s family time just for us.

Related: Tom Selleck Is a Softie! The Sweetest Things the Blue Bloods Star Has Said About His Wife, Jillie Mack

You have your 80th birthday coming up on Jan. 29. Any special plans for celebrating that? It’s a milestone.

None whatsoever. I’m trying not to count. I stopped celebrating birthdays a while back. I intend to keep working. I’ll probably have dinner with maybe my brother and my sister and Jillie, just go out to dinner, kind of be quiet and not make a big deal of it.

I can hardly wait to see what you’re going to do next.

Well, I can’t, either. But I’m sure it’s something!

The Blue Bloods series finale airs at 10 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 13.

Related: Tom Selleck's Easy Tuna Melt Is Creamy, Cheesy and Super Satisfying