Blue Bloods' Vanessa Ray Got the Part of Eddie In a Surprisingly Dramatic Way
Vanessa Ray may be not the biggest star on Blue Bloods.
In fact, she doesn't even technically count as one of the main characters. But in her role of Officer Eddie Janko-Reagan she is still a noticeable presence on the show. It's safe to say at times her character's even eclipses Eddie's husband, Jamie Reagan.
But Vanessa's path to this role was not easy.
Playing on Blue Bloods was her dream job, after spending quite a few years in various minor roles, sometimes even playing extras. But getting this dream job required quite a bit of persistence in the face of bad luck. As Vanessa revealed in her interview with CBS Watch! magazine:
"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.""
Imagine getting such a misfortune on your big day. Given sheer improbability of this event, it must have felt demoralizingly unfair. But Vanessa was not about to miss her big chance.
"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!"
And back then she did not even realize how big her chance really was. In an interview with The Rhode Show, she said: "I had no idea that I would be blessed enough to be on a show that's so well-loved and running so long. It's a pretty cool gig to get. It's kind of like winning the lottery as an actor. I'm really grateful."
All in all, Vanessa's determination on that day paid off, and with Blue Bloods likely to continue for the foreseeable future, her continued employment is also largely assured. Sometimes you just have to be stubborn at a critical moment.