“Tom Selleck Opens Up About His Modest Start in Showbiz”

Tom Selleck has recently shared that he “didn’t get the girl” during his appearance on ‘The Dating Game’. The 79-year-old actor made this revelation about his early showbiz days in an interview that has resurfaced as he promotes his new autobiography, You Never Know: A Memoir. The book delves into the highs and lows of his extensive TV and film career, including his “mistakes” and struggles.

In the early 1980s, Selleck appeared on ‘The Dating Game’ as Bachelor No. 2, but he didn’t win over the female contestant. His breakthrough role came later when he was cast as private investigator Thomas Magnum in the hit CBS series Magnum, P.I.. Prior to that, he had a role on the soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1974 to 1975, playing Jed Andrews, the romantic interest of Jaime Lyn Bauer’s character.

Despite his success, Selleck has emphasized that he never sought fame for its own sake. In his interview, he explained, “People would say, ‘Oh, he was bitten by the acting bug,’ or, ‘He wanted to be a star.’ I’ve never talked that way in my life. I just wanted to get a job and work.”

Selleck took four years to complete his memoir, which reflects on his numerous failures and the perseverance required in the acting business. “If you’re going to get in the acting business, you better get an appetite for it,” he said. “And I tried to communicate that… because it was kind of a long road.”

He also spoke about being mindful of sharing stories about other celebrities, noting that not everyone is comfortable with their anecdotes being made public. Additionally, Selleck revealed one of his significant career setbacks: he missed out on playing Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Although director Steven Spielberg offered him the role, the producers of Magnum, P.I. wouldn’t release him from his contract, which had been extended after the show’s pilot was picked up for a full series.