Are Donnie Wahlberg And Marisa Ramirez From Blue Bloods Friends In Real Life?

The cast of "Blue Bloods" runs the gamut of personality types (and job titles) when it comes to law enforcement in New York City. The show, which follows an Irish-American law enforcement family known as the Reagans — among whom there are beat cops, commissioners, lawyers, and hard-boiled detectives — includes Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan, a seasoned detective in the NYPD that is absolutely dedicated to the law. The character can be somewhat abrasive at times, but it comes from years of experience, knowledge, and trauma from the job.

Marisa Ramirez plays Detective Maria Baez, and she's one of the main cast members, after Season 3, that does not have the same last name as everybody else. This means that she is generally absent (though not always!) from the typical family dinners the Reagans host on Sundays. However, since she is a detective, she still has plenty of time to interact with Danny, and at one point they both earn an NYPD Medal of Valor for their combined actions. 

Considering the friendship between these two characters in "Blue Bloods," fans have often wondered if that fondness is present when the cameras aren't rolling.

Luckily for all those dedicated "Blue Bloods" viewers, it seems that both Wahlberg and Ramirez have had several instances where they have heaped praises on the other. 

In an interview with The Talk, Wahlberg brought up that Will Estes' character got married to his partner in the context of "Blue Bloods," but since then, they no longer have any scenes together between the two — and because of this, Wahlberg joked that he doesn't want his character entering a relationship with Baez because it means they will no longer see each other, and that he would miss his friend. One of the hosts of The Talk then asked if the two ever get the giggles during intense scenes, to which the two actors looked at each other and immediately started laughing, illustrating that they really do have a great time working with each other.

In a separate interview with PopCulture, Ramirez was asked what it was like to step into the role of Baez and whether she was intimidated by it, to which she responded, "Fortunately, Donnie was so welcoming and we just hit it off from day one and have developed such a friendship from that moment till now." 

Judging by these comments from both Wahlberg and Ramirez, it seems that they are in fact very close in real life, and that their chemistry on "Blue Bloods" is, in fact, a direct product of their off-screen friendship.