Blue Bloods - Vanessa Ray & Will Estes

… play Officers Jamie Reagan and Edit “Eddie” Janko, a couple who makes it work, in and out of uniform.

Jessica Shaw

Good news for #jamko fans: Will Estes and Vanessa Ray, who play Blue Bloods’ patrol partners turned precinct paramours Eddie Janko and Jamie Reagan, are every bit as adorable when the cameras aren’t rolling. And that’s saying something, because on-screen, these two have had a swoon-worthy run, from Jamie endearing himself to Eddie’s difficult mother to Eddie’s crazy jealousy when Jamie flirted with a beautiful doctor, all the way up to last season’s tear-inducing engagement.

But no amount of watching Estes and Ray’s on-camera chemistry can prepare you for spending an afternoon with these two, who constantly crack each other up, finish each other’s sentences, and give supportive compliments—only to playfully mock each other seconds later. “Get him out of here!” Estes jokingly scolds Ray when her actual husband’s name pops up on her ringing phone.

Sharing a couch in Ray’s dressing room on the Brooklyn set, in between pop-in chats from Bloods family members Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg (not to mention a drive-by from Wahlberg’s wife, Jenny McCarthy, and their brand-new Pomeranian puppies), the co-stars talked about the awkwardness of making out on camera with your real-life platonic best friend, why they were initially opposed to their characters coupling, and what the future holds for the fan favorite duo. (Spoiler alert: it may change around the seating at the Reagan family dinners!)

Do you remember your very first auditions to play Jamie and Eddie?

Vanessa: I auditioned on tape and then went to meet with CBS in Los Angeles. The day I went in for my callback, the casting director got stuck in an elevator and they were like, “Maybe we should reschedule for tomorrow.” But sometimes as an actor you’re like, No! I’m ready right now and I don’t want to come back tomorrow. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I know today I can get this job. So I waited on the CBS lot for two hours until the fire department got the casting director out of the elevator and then I was like, “Ready?” And I got it!

Will: I auditioned for what felt like 11 times, but it was actually just four. I remember the script was my favorite thing I’d read all year. I don’t think I ever told anyone this, but I was totally broke. After reading with Leonard [Goldberg, Blue Bloods’ executive producer], I remember he said, “I believed you.” That was an endearing vote of confidence.

Will, you’ve been on the show since it premiered in September 2010. Vanessa, you joined in season 4. At this point, it’s hard to imagine Blue Bloods without the two of you together in some capacity. Do you remember the first time you tested together? Was there instant chemistry?

Vanessa: [To Estes] I think you were skeptical of me. Will: I don’t think that!

Vanessa: Remember we were in the hallway?

Will: Is this a real story?

Vanessa: This is Will’s new thing. He thinks I’m lying.

Will: At any given time you can believe 75 percent of what Vanessa is saying.

Vanessa: This story I’m positive about. I remember you were in full costume. And I think you were like, “Who is this girl? Who is this blond girl?”

Will: I remember always liking you. Vanessa: Awww!

When Vanessa joined, was it made clear to both of you that these characters were going to be partners who eventually fall in love?

Will: One of the oddities of television is that sometimes performances dictate the story. It’s a create-as-you-go format. So certainly the writers wrote it, but if we were horrible together they wouldn’t have written it. Us having a great time together helped.

Vanessa: Aside from the romance, there are so many times one of our conversations will end up in the story. I’ll look at a script and be like, We just had this argument or We just talked about that thing!

Like what?

Will: I’ve deliberately blocked it all out. Vanessa: Anything. Our views on society or relationships in general.