The actor attended PaleyFest with his Blue Bloods castmates
The 79-year-old joined his castmates at PaleyFest in New York on Thursday and brought his new look to the red carpet after ditching his iconic mustache.
Tom happily posed for photos with the likes of Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Marisa Ramirez, Vanessa Ray, and Len Cariou, as they reunited at The Paley Museum, where guests watched an advanced screening of one of Blue Bloods’ final episodes followed by a conversation with members of the cast and creative team.
Tom is typically seen with styled hair and a clean-shaven face alongside his well-groomed mustache, but lately, he has looked very different, sporting a full beard and longer gray hair.
The actor’s mustache has become as notorious as him, and while he shaved it off for roles in the early days of his career, his well-known roles have featured him with his now-iconic facial hair.
However, for his role as police commissioner Frank Reagan in Blue Bloods, Tom initially wanted to do it clean-shaven.
“At the time, they had him as the New York City police chief,” Tom told People of the role. “That’s not the boss in New York, the way it’s structured.”
He added: “And I said, ‘Well, I don’t think they can have mustaches, so I’ll shave off my mustache,’ and [executive producer] Leonard [Goldberg] said, ‘Let me check with CBS.’ And they said no.”
Earlier this month, Tom expressed his frustration over the show’s cancelation after 14 years, claiming the NYPD drama’s success was “always taken for granted”.
When asked how he felt about the series concluding with its 14th season, Tom told TV Insider: “I’m kind of frustrated. During those last eight shows, I haven’t wanted to talk about an ending for Blue Bloods but about it still being wildly successful.
“In a Top 100 Shows of 2023-2024 (in total viewers, we were number 9 out of 100), if you discount the three football shows, we’re #6!”
He continued: “I’m not going to turn into a bitter old guy saying, ‘Get off my lawn!’ I don’t believe in holding grudges, but if you were to say to the television network, ‘Here’s a show you can program in the worst time slot you got, and it is going to guarantee you winning Friday night for the next 15 years,’ it would be almost impossible to believe.
“My frustration is the show was always taken for granted because it performed from the get-go,” he explained.
“So how do I feel? It’s going to take a long time to sort all of this out.
“I remember after the weekend [of the final episode’s shoot], I said, ‘I’ve got to get to bed early tonight because I have to do my dialogue for Monday.’ Well, there was no Monday. It’s just going to take a while.”
In November 2023, it was announced that the show had been canceled by CBS, and would end with its 14th season, split into two parts and 18 episodes.