There are those like Tom Selleck, who exhibit the characteristics needed to perfectly portray a citizen who enforces the law, and there are actors who have been successful playing those who break it. When it comes to the main villain of Season 9, Episode 19 (“Common Enemies”), “Blue Bloods” decided to bring in someone to be considered one of Hollywood’s best onscreen tough guys and outlaws.
In the entry, Lou Diamond Phillips returns as Louis Delgado to team up with Officer Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) to take down Jose Rojas, aka The Clam, a ruthless Cartel killer who turned out to be responsible for the death of Delgado’s better half, and Danny’s wife. Linda Reagan (Amy Carlson) died off camera between Seasons 8 and 9 when her medevac crashed, and viewers learned Rojas was behind the tragic ordeal. Later in the entry, a brutal brawl ensues between Delgado and Rojas when an undercover operation goes south. When faced with the decision to take revenge, Detective Reagan chooses justice and arrests the man who killed Linda. The conniving cutthroat taken into custody was played by Danny Trejo, known for several rebellious roles in films like “Machete,” “Desperado,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Con Air,” and “Heat.”
The CBS series is known for recruiting top-notch talent, and it makes sense the show would utilize the unique skill set Trejo brings to the table to play a character capable of killing a Reagan. The actor has attained a stellar reputation for brilliantly portraying lawbreakers in hundreds of projects, and his uncanny ability to play the bad guy can arguably be attributed to one thing.
Danny Trejo has a wealth of crime experience on- and off-camera
Most people with criminal backgrounds have a hard time turning what they learned on the wrong side of the law into a successful career. But when Danny Trejo began acting after spending time in prison, he realized his unfiltered look and troubled past gave him an edge over the competition in Hollywood.
When casting thugs, drug dealers, gangsters, and killers, authenticity goes a long way. However, finding reliable individuals that fit the culprit criteria can be difficult unless Trejo is on the call sheet. The actor quickly became a hot commodity when it came to selecting candidates to play crime-ridden characters. “I played ‘Inmate No. 1.’ I played ‘Bad Guy.’ I played ‘Chicano Dude.’ I played ‘Guy With Tattoos.’ I never had a name,” the actor said in an interview with KTLA. Trejo didn’t even flinch when asked to play a convict in “Runaway Train.” “I almost started laughing,” Trejo said. “I had been in every institution in the state of California. I’ll give it a shot.”
Trejo would continue to get several similar gigs and was never bothered by always playing the heavy. “The first time I was ever really interviewed, She says, ‘Danny, don’t think you are being typecast?’ ‘You’re Always playing the mean Chicano dude with tattoos,'” Trejo said in an interview with IMDb. “And I thought about it, and I said, I am the mean Chicano dude with tattoos. Go with what you got!”
Whether it’s playing small parts like The Clam on “Blue Bloods” or executing enforcer duties in the actor’s long list of credits, there is no denying Trejo is proud of the tough guy legacy he has cultivated.