Inside Peter Hermann's life-changing bond with Blue Bloods co-star Vanessa Ray

The cast of Blue Bloods have made no secret of their close relationships onscreen and off, but there's one connection many fans of the NYPD drama may not know about. 

Peter Hermann, who plays Jack Boyle, on the long-running show has a special bond with Vanessa Ray. 

The actress is well known for her portrayal of police officer Eddie Janko but away from the small screen, she has a real-life family, partly thanks to Peter. 

In November 2023, Vanessa and her husband, Landon Beard, became parents for the first time after secretly welcoming a baby boy, Isaac, via adoption. 

Months later, she gave an exclusive interview to People and opened up about how Peter helped them on their journey to parenthood.

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Speaking about their son's "whirlwind" arrival, Vanessa explained how the couple were initially unsure about having children. 

"My husband and I weren't totally sure if we were going to have kids, at what point in our life that made sense and all those things.

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But then, she said she was "at work one day" and something shifted. "I was about to do a family dinner," she said of the famous Reagan dinner scenes in Blue Bloods. "And I just had this overwhelming sensation of family and what I love about our life and all of these things."

She remembered sobbing to Landon and telling him: "I think we're supposed to be parents" and, "I think we should adopt."

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She immediately turned to her friend and co-star Bridget Moynahan, who said there was someone else on the team who she should be consulting. 

"I literally was at work crying and I went to Bridget Moynahan and I was like, 'I just called Landon and we think we should be parents,'" Vanessa recalled. "She was like, 'Great, you need to talk to Peter Hermann.'"

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Peter and his wife, Law & Order SVU star Mariska Hargitay, adopted two of their three children. 

Vanessa had never met the Younger actor — who is a series regular, rather than a permanent cast member — but they were to work together on the next script. 

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"Graciously, he really held our hand and walked us through everything that we would need to know about adoption," Vanessa said of Peter. "It's a lot of first dates almost. It almost feels like there's a ton of heartbreak that comes along with it."

Although the initial paperwork and finding legal representation took over a year, their adoption happened fast and within weeks of putting up their information on an adoption website, they were parents. 

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Now, Isaac is a familiar face on the Blue Bloods set. 

"He's met Will [Estes] and Bridget and Donnie and Marisa [Ramirez] and Tom [Selleck], and yeah, he's met everybody," she said. "He's already a real part of the family."