Jamie's in a new position at work in Blue Bloods Season 9. He's passed the sergeant's test and is getting a promotion, which offers Will Estes a chance to play a new aspect of his character.
"He started very much a rookie," the actor told Newsweek. "Now, he's a veteran who just made sergeant. I'm stepping into my training sergeant's shoes, and I'm now in charge of other police officers. I'm one step up the ladder rung and in charge of other police officers and playing a boss."
"I heard it stated one time the police officer on the street is the only job position that puts you in a place where you actually can prevent crime. Everything else is getting the criminal who did it," he continued. "Jamie was hesitant to give that up. He heard his father, Frank Reagan, say things like, 'If I had to do it all over again, I'd be right where you are.' He might have meant that in a sentimental way, but I think that's something Jamie took to heart, for better or worse."
Estes is enjoying playing this new side of his character. "On a one-hour drama, one of the biggest challenges is evolution," he explained. The real police officers who serve as technical advisors "got a kick out of it when I first came onto the set in a sergeant's uniform," he said. "They said, 'You look like a sergeant,' so, if they like it, that's one of the biggest compliments."
This is a big step up from the Jamie viewers met in the series premiere. Though he went to law school and got a degree and didn't become a cop "at his mother's will," Estes recalled, he decided "to go and become a cop on the street and follow in the footsteps of his father, his older brothers and even his grandfather."
"He started with stars in his eyes and was very much a rookie," he continued. "As much as he's from a family of cops, there's a big difference between hearing stories around the dinner table and actually being a police officer on the street."
The promotion means he's no longer partners with Eddie (Vanessa Ray), his fiancée. "Vanessa and I are discovering how to play people who are in a relationship and not partners because we want to be in a relationship," Estes said. It's not written anywhere that partners can't be romantically involved, but commanding officers wouldn't allow it.
Blue Bloods Season 9 airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.
