Donnie Wahlberg reveals why he agreed to receive pay cut in 'Blue Blood'

Donnie Wahlberg recently opened up about making Blue Bloods and how the high-cost show’s cast was asked to take a pay cut.

On the Tuesday, April 21 episode of the podcast, The George Janko Show, Wahlberg discussed the show and how the cast was asked to receive a pay cut.

He recalled, “With Blue Bloods, they came to us before the final year and said, ‘You need to take a 25 percent pay cut or we’re going off the air.’ And some people were like, ‘Nope.’ Other people were like, ‘OK.’”

The 56-year-old American singer and actor went on to admit that he tried negotiating with the creators.

“I was like, ‘Why not just say [a] 15 [percent pay cut] in exchange for four more seasons?’ Because they were like, ‘This is the last year, so 25 percent pay cut.’ I just was like, ‘Let’s keep it going. I’d rather have 75 percent of something than zero percent of zero,’” The Sixth Sense star shared.

“I naively thought if we take the pay cut — and this is where other people were right — that we could have kept going. But the show has gotten so expensive and the industry has changed. They used to make 10 to 20 TV pilots on one network. … There’s no pilot season anymore. It’s all changed,” Wahlberg stated.

For those unaware, the police procedural drama, which released its first season on September 24, 2010, concluded the show on December 13, 2024, after 14 seasons.

It is pertinent to mention that Blue Bloods had an ensemble cast, including Wahlberg, Tom Selleck, Vanessa Ray, Bridget Moynahan, Andrew Terraciano, Len Cariou, Gregory Jbara, and others.