Boston Blue Reunites The Reagan Brothers: Will Estes On Working With Donnie Wahlberg Again And What's Next For Jamie

TVLINE | How long had Jamie’s appearance on “Boston Blue” been in the works? Was this something you’d discussed with Donnie and the Brandons as far back as Season 1?

No, it came about more recently than that. I wouldn’t say I was waiting by the phone for the call for a whole season, but they reached out to me — Donnie did, and the Brandons — and they were like, “Would you want to be on the show?” And I was like, “Yes! What time? What time are you guys free?” When they told me the story and what they wanted to do with it, I was on board immediately.

TVLINE | When we last saw Jamie, he and Eddie were preparing to welcome their first child, Joey Francis. He’s now a father and an NYPD lieutenant. How much did those developments inform your approach to playing him again?

It’s the same character. It’s the same guy. But it definitely informed this episode and some of the tension that’s going on between Danny and Jamie.

I think having a kid changes you, and it shifts your priorities. All of a sudden, your brother, who maybe you took for granted, isn’t there. And that’s a really big deal. So that’s something Jamie’s holding on to and brings into this episode. It certainly informs some of the tension, some of the conflict. But other than that, I think he’s the same guy.

TVLINE | What’s interesting about this episode is that Jamie has been harboring some resentment over Danny leaving New York just as he became a first-time father. What did you make of that dynamic, and the fact that Jamie had kept those feelings to himself all this time?

It didn’t feel like a long time because I haven’t been playing the character. But the fact that he’s gone off, maybe it took time to evolve. Sometimes things build. I’m not even sure if I would classify it as resentment.

But I think the dialogue that Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier wrote was so good. I was so excited to do it from the moment I read it. All that tension is just so on point. It’s so clear. It felt so comfortable and right for the character that, in a way, it was easy.

When the writing’s good, I think for an actor, it’s always easy, no matter how difficult people think a scene is because it’s dramatic or heightened in terms of stakes. If it’s well done, that’s the fun, easy stuff to do as an actor.

They wrote the tension and conflict between those two characters so well that it felt like putting on a broken-in baseball glove. It just fit. I kind of fell right into it.

TVLINE | I spoke with Donnie a couple weeks ago, and he described your reunion, both on screen and off, as “very healing” and “emotional,” especially since you two hadn’t worked together in a while. What was that reunion like from your perspective?

It was great. Gosh, it had been a while.

There were parts of “Blue Bloods” that were hard. You don’t do anything for 14 years without some things being tough. We all worked hard and worked well and turned out a great show for 14 years on “Blue Bloods.” But there were things that were hard, and I hadn’t connected with Donnie for a while. To see him again and connect with him and do this story, it was like therapy, I think. There were some things on screen, I think, that echoed life off screen. And so some of it wasn’t acting, and that’s always entertaining for an actor, when it isn’t acting. It was a great experience.

TVLINE | Sometimes you’re in a scene that’s obviously cathartic for the character you’re playing, but you don’t necessarily expect that catharsis for yourself.

That’s right. And the conflict was always there between Danny and Jamie as brothers, too. We’ve played that a lot in the past, so it did feel like an evolution of that. It felt like a chance for these two characters to talk it out in a way that they never had before. That was the main thing that was exciting to me about this episode: It was the evolution of the two characters’ relationship.

TVLINE | What do you think it means to Jamie to hear Danny say he’s proud of him — not just as a brother and a cop, but now as a father?

It’s huge. I think the character of Danny Reagan has always been some version of a bull in a china shop — like Bud White in “L.A. Confidential.” And that character has been super challenging for Jamie over the years. So to hear that, it’s a resolution of a major conflict. It’s that evolution and resolution. It’s where it needed to go for a long time. And I think it’s cool that a new show — a new platform — brought that storyline in and hopefully buried the hatchet on that conflict, put it to rest, and ushered in a new chapter for that relationship.

TVLINE | The case also gives Jamie and Danny an opportunity to reflect on losing their older brother Joe. After so many years playing these characters, how much of that Reagan family history is something you consciously bring into a scene, versus something that’s simply ingrained in you at this point?

It’s ingrained. It’s something that informed the discovery of the character. [“Blue Bloods” executive producer] Leonard Goldberg said that, in one-hour drama television, for the first few seasons, the writers know the characters much better than the actors. But after that, the actors start to know the characters a little bit better than the writers sometimes. Not always, but sometimes.The loss of Joe informed the creation and development of Jamie to a great extent when we first started “Blue Bloods.” By the time a few seasons had gone by, all that becomes ingrained in the character. You just bring it with you like you always have.

TVLINE | We know from social media that Vanessa Ray visited the set while this episode was in production, even though Eddie doesn’t appear. Did you two get a chance to reconnect?

This is a crazy story. I wasn’t there the day she was [on set]…. I hadn’t seen her for the longest time, and she was on the flight over [from] New York. I bumped into her on the plane, and I was like, “Are you doing ‘Boston Blue’? I’m doing ‘Boston Blue.’ Are we doing it at the same time? Did I get a revision?” And she was like, “No, but I’m going to be in Boston, and I’m going to come to set.” So we reconnected totally randomly right beforehand. That was wild. But no, I didn’t even see her when she was on set. I was working, and on my day off, I get back in bed.

TVLINE | Did that spark any conversations about potentially bringing Jamie and Eddie back together in a future episode of “Boston Blue”?

I don’t see why it shouldn’t spark that conversation. Nobody talked to me about it, but that’s above my pay grade anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if those conversations happened, and I hope they did.

TVLINE | Obviously, the door is open to seeing Jamie again. Would you be interested in returning on a recurring basis, especially now that, like you said, there’s an opportunity to resolve storylines that perhaps weren’t fully wrapped up on “Blue Bloods”?

One-hundred percent. Yeah, I’m 100% here for it. Put me in, coach!

TVLINE | Having stepped away from “Blue Bloods” and now returned to this world through “Boston Blue,” has your perspective on the original series and its legacy changed at all with some distance?

The only thing that’s changed for me, even after having stepped away from “Blue Bloods,” is [recognizing] the impact that it had on people. I’ve had people tell me that they became police officers because of my character. I’ve had people tell me they sat and watched the show every week with their mom, who’s now passed away, and the show is almost a connection to that person.

I continue to be astounded and humbled and grateful for the impact that it had on people and the reception that I get — especially with NYPD [officers] or [their] families. I have tons of friends that I would never have. They’re like, “Hey, I know you!” And it’s like, they don’t, but they do. It has literally opened doors for me to friendships and to people. One of my really good friends now is actually with the sheriffs in New York, and was a huge fan of the show. We became friends, and now we hang out.

Something about the show resonated with people. I continue to be humbled and grateful for that connection to the people who love the show.

TVLINE | It’s wild. Even if CBS wanted to keep your appearance under wraps, those fans were there. We were getting emails that day: “Will’s on set! You’ve got to confirm this!” The magnitude of this fandom is incredible.

Donnie doesn’t shy away from a connection to a fan. He’s one of the most engaging, gracious people I’ve ever seen with random strangers. Sometimes I’m scared because you’re in a big city, and you don’t know who’s walking up to you. Donnie heads right in and connects with people.

So when there was a crowd of people with their phones out when we were on the duck boat, I was like, “We’re not keeping this under wraps anymore, right? There’s no way it’s not on the internet somewhere.”

I didn’t know what the plan was there, but it quickly went out the window in terms of trying to keep it a secret.