Boston Blue’s Risky Recast Explained By Creator

October 18, 2025

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The following contains spoilers for season 1, episode 1 of Boston Blue.

Boston Blue’s first episode opened with a bang, shocking viewers with a violent incident so quickly. However, the son of Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg), Sean Reagan (Mika Amonsen), getting shot and hospitalized after responding to a domestic violence case, wasn’t the only thing that the audience was curious about. Avid fans of the new series’ flagship show, Blue Bloods, also noticed that Danny’s son has been recast.

Although the cast of Boston Blue was revealed a while ago, many still might not have paid attention to the announcement and were unaware. Regardless, actually seeing a new face for a familiar character onscreen, despite knowing about it, can still be a little unsettling and maybe even sad for some. In TVLine’s recent interview with the police procedural drama’s creators, Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier, the pair explain why they felt like it was necessary to use a new actor in the spinoff.

When asked about the reasoning behind the change, Margolis explained that, since it was a new show that they wanted people to view as something that was entirely different, they needed to give it a fresh start. Since Sean has apparently changed a lot since Blue Bloods, and he’s entering a whole new phase in his life, the creators agreed that a new face for the character just made sense.

While he felt like a new actor who had different qualities was needed, he made it very clear that it had nothing to do with the original actor, Andrew Terraciano’s performance and that it wasn’t personal. He even praised his iteration of the character and the impact he had on Blue Bloods.

First of all, we love Andrew’s work from the original series and loved watching him grow up on TV. But once we realized we were telling a very new chapter in this character’s life, creatively it made sense to find an actor with a different energy. Mika’s performance calls back to Sean’s vulnerabilities, but he brings a youthful energy that takes the character in a new direction we loved.

Margolis also admitted that he was completely aware of how big of a risk it would be to replace the actor of a character from such a beloved series. A lot of viewers who stayed committed to the original show, watched Sean transform throughout its iconic run, might feel a little betrayed by the change in Boston Blue.

Yeah, it was a gamble to open the show on a new face — two new faces, actually — but the story required us to love him right away. Opening with that heroic moment that has a tragic end was the right way to pull Danny Reagan into this world.

Boston Blue premiered on October 17, 2025. New episodes will be released on CBS every Friday at 10:00 PM ET and 7:00 PM PT.