Tom Selleck has starred in some of the most beloved shows in television history.
But his time in Hollywood didn’t play out like he expected.
And Tom Selleck took everyone by surprise with this confession about his Hollywood career.
Tom Selleck finds fame by accident
Veteran actor Tom Selleck became a household name in the 1980s by playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the award-winning CBS crime drama Magnum, P.I.
He found success again on CBS by starring as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods, which is in its final season.
Selleck became one of the most recognized actors on television, but he never set out to be a Hollywood star.
He attended the University of Southern California on a basketball scholarship and majored in business administration.
Acting wasn’t on his radar until he got a part playing a basketball player in a Pepsi commercial.
“It is really the story of an accidental career,” Selleck told PEOPLE. “I’d never taken an acting class. I had no training, no desire.”
He had small roles throughout the 1970s while he was searching for his big break in Hollywood, which came on Magnum, P.I. in 1980.
“People would say, ‘Oh, he was bitten by the acting bug’ or, ‘He wanted to be a star,’” Selleck explained. “I’ve never talked that way in my life. I just wanted to get a job and work.”
Blue Bloods is in its 14th and final season and Selleck is grateful that he was able to find success as an actor.
“I’ve had a very good life, a very lucky life,” Selleck said. “I don’t know if it’s what I figured I’d be doing, but it’s with a lot of gratitude.”
Tom Selleck almost landed the lead in one of the biggest franchises in Hollywood
Selleck is known for his work on television, but he was given the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg offered him the part, but Magnum, P.I. got in the way.
Karen Allen played Marion Ravenwood in the film, the love interest of Indiana Jones.
“Tom previously had done a pilot for Magnum, P.I. before being asked to play Indiana Jones,” Allen told Fox News Digital. “And when you do a pilot, you sign a contract that, if it gets picked up, you’re committed. So, they picked up the pilot. They picked up his option, and he could no longer play Indiana Jones.”
Tom Selleck has had a successful career for more than four decades in Hollywood, which he accidentally wandered into.
