''The Rookie'' is an American
police procedural
The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
drama television series created by Alexi Hawley for
ABC. The series follows John Nolan, a man in his forties, who becomes the oldest
rookie at the
Los Angeles Police Department. The series is produced by
ABC Signature and
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...
; it is based on real-life Los Angeles Police Department officer William Norcross, who moved to Los Angeles in 2015 and joined the department in his mid-40s.
The series stars
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
,
Alyssa Diaz,
Richard T. Jones, Titus Makin Jr.,
Melissa O'Neil,
Afton Williamson,
Mekia Cox,
Shawn Ashmore
Shawn Robert Ashmore (born October 7, 1979) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Bobby Drake / Iceman in the ''X-Men'' film series, Jake Berenson in the television series '' Animorphs'', Agent Mike Weston in the television drama ...
and
Eric Winter. ''The Rookie'' premiered on October 16, 2018. The first season ran until April 16, 2019. The second season ran from September 29, 2019, to May 10, 2020. The third season ran from January 3 to May 16, 2021. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 26, 2021. In March 2022, the series was renewed for a fifth season which premiered on September 25, 2022.
Premise
The series follows John Nolan, a forty-five-year-old newly divorced man from
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
, who, after inadvertently helping police officers during a bank robbery, moves to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
to pursue a new career as a police officer in the
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). After graduating from the Police Academy as the oldest rookie on the force, Nolan must navigate the dangerous, unpredictable nature of his job and is determined to make it in his new career despite the challenges.
Series lead Nathan Fillion stated during an interview that the drama was inspired by a true story as the LAPD is one of just two agencies that accepts new officers over the age of 37.
The man whose story inspired the premise of the show was later revealed to be Bill Norcross, a college friend of executive producer Jon Steinberg, who based the show on his story. Norcross continues to serve in the LAPD and also as executive producer on ''The Rookie''.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main
*
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
as John Nolan: The oldest rookie (Police Officer III) at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), he is assigned to the fictional Mid-Wilshire Division.
He studied law at
Pennsylvania State University but dropped out and went into the construction business upon learning that Sarah, his girlfriend and later wife, was pregnant. At the age of 45, Nolan closed his construction company in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
and moved out west to become a police officer. He is divorced with a 19-year-old son, Henry, who is a freshman in college. At the start of the third season, Nolan's chances of future promotion to detective are compromised as a result of his unauthorized investigation into corrupt cop Nick Armstrong, so he decides instead to work towards becoming a training officer (TO) himself. Although a resentful labour official tries to block Nolan's advancement by sending him to an isolated department for the week of the exam, after Nolan helps capture a gang he earns a "golden ticket" that he uses to get promoted to provisional TO level.
*
Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez: An LAPD detective (Detective I). She is assigned as the training officer to Jackson West, who unintentionally threatens her hopes of becoming a detective. Although she gives West a hard time, Lopez also looks out for him. She becomes engaged to defense attorney Wesley Evers in season two, and is promoted to detective (Detective I) at the beginning of season 3, following the death of Nick Armstrong.
She discovers that she is pregnant with her and Wesley's first child in the season three premiere. She is kidnapped by drug lord La Fiera at her wedding and taken to Guatemala, but is soon rescued by her colleagues and Wesley. She later has a baby boy whom she names after West, who died trying to save her from being kidnapped.
*
Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey: A sergeant (Sergeant II) and watch commander at the Wilshire Station. Grey initially believes that Nolan may be changing career because of a possible midlife crisis and doubts that he is suitable for police work, but later sees his potential. Grey served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
prior to joining the LAPD. He has a daughter who is planning to go to college in the fall.
* Titus Makin Jr. as Jackson West (seasons 1–3):
An eager, if somewhat naive, rookie (Police Officer II) and the son of Commander West, head of the LAPD's Internal Affairs Division. Top of his class at the Police Academy, he is firmly committed to the LAPD and strives to be the best officer he can as he wants to maintain his family's traditions. West is shocked by some of the realities of police work and freezes whenever shootings occur. As a result, he is nearly thrown out of the training program by Bradford. He eventually overcomes his fears and is able to move past the shootings. He is a close friend of Nolan and Chen and becomes the latter's roommate when he is forced to move out of his apartment after arresting his landlord. When Angela is promoted to detective, his new TO, Doug Stanton, is eventually revealed to be a racist with outdated views on dealing with gangs, forcing West to work with Grey to expose him. West is openly gay. In the season 4 premiere, West is shown to have been shot and killed while struggling to save Detective Lopez from abduction by La Fiera. Lopez later names her and Wesley's son after him in his honor.
*
Mercedes Mason as Zoe Andersen (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan's confident and irreverent commanding officer,
Captain Andersen used to be a
Marine, serving with the military police. After leaving the Corps, she spent a year with the
United States Pentagon Police
The Pentagon Police Division (PPD) is the uniformed division of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA).
PPD's role is to provide law enforcement and protective security services for The Pentagon and other Office of the Secretary of Defense ...
Criminal Investigations Directorate before joining the LAPD. Because of her prior experience, Andersen has risen up the ranks very quickly, to the point where some of her officers see her more as a boss than a fellow officer. Unlike Grey, she takes Nolan under her wing, believing that his life experiences will benefit the department. She is killed late in the first season while protecting Nolan from an attempt on his life by a gang boss.
*
Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen: An ambitious rookie (Police Officer II) who struggles to prove herself to Tim Bradford, her training officer. She is 29 years old, and her parents are
psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how ...
s who remain opposed to her choice of career. During training, she briefly has a romantic relationship with Nolan, but they eventually break up by mutual consent because they know it is against the rules. She is close to Nolan and West and often spends time with them while not on duty. After completing her training, Chen is partnered with West and later undergoes training to become an undercover officer.
*
Afton Williamson as Talia Bishop (season 1): A newly promoted training officer (Police Officer III) whose first assignment is Nolan. Ambitious, she tries hard to make detective and hopes to eventually work her way up to chief of police. Near the end of the first season, Bishop is revealed to have lied about having an ex-con foster brother in order to get into the police academy. She does not return for the second season, as she has moved on to the U.S.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rather than face a possibly stalled career in the LAPD.
*
Eric Winter as Tim Bradford: A strict, no-nonsense training officer (Police Officer III/Sergeant I). He is assigned Chen as a rookie and gives her a hard time but treats her fairly. He used to be a
Marine squad leader who served in Iraq and Afghanistan before joining the LAPD. He was once married to Isabel Bradford, a fellow police officer, but her drug addiction eventually caused their marriage to fall apart. Later in the first season, he ends his relationship with Isabel entirely once she succeeds in breaking her drug habit, as he believes this will be best for both of them. He starts dating social services agent Rachel Hall in the second season after losing a bet to Chen, but the relationship ends when Rachel takes up a job offer in New York and Bradford is unwilling to interrupt his career progression by transferring to the NYPD. He is promoted to Sergeant I for his role in the rescue of Lopez. He is the older brother of Gennifer Bradford and the son of Tom Bradford.
*
Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper (season 2–present): Nolan's new training officer (Police Detective I), a tough, experienced detective who is leaving behind four years of undercover work so that she can return to patrol work. She is doing this to become more of a presence in her daughter's life and to bolster her chances in her fight with her ex-husband for joint custody of their daughter.
She begins dating James Murray, a local she met in season 3 during an assignment in his neighborhood, in season 4 and ultimately becomes pregnant by him. She gives birth early in the fifth season and transfers back to detective.
*
Shawn Ashmore
Shawn Robert Ashmore (born October 7, 1979) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Bobby Drake / Iceman in the ''X-Men'' film series, Jake Berenson in the television series '' Animorphs'', Agent Mike Weston in the television drama ...
as Wesley Evers (season 3–present; recurring seasons 1–2): A defense lawyer with whom Lopez initially clashes but later starts dating. The two become engaged near the end of the second season. Wesley becomes friendly with the team, to the extent that he agrees to act as Nolan's lawyer when he is nearly framed by Armstrong as an informer to criminals. In season 4, he begins working as a crooked lawyer to one of his clients, crime boss Elijah Stone, after Elijah helped him locate Lopez when she was kidnapped by La Fiera. Wesley later becomes the father to his and Lopez's son Jackson. He is later suspended for six months from the California Bar Association after he violates his attorney-client privilege in order to incriminate Elijah. During his suspension, he begins offering legal advice to the less fortunate. In Season 5, he becomes an Assistant District Attorney.
*
Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune (season 4–present; guest season 3): A firefighter who first appears as Nolan's date to Lopez's wedding and later becomes his girlfriend.
* Tru Valentino as Aaron Thorsen (season 5; recurring season 4): A newbie rookie (Police Officer I) who was involved in a murder case in which he was found not guilty. A later case leads to the team reinvestigating his original crime and confirming that the real culprit was a mutual friend of him and the victim. Thorsen is initially training under Nyla Harper, but after she transfers back to detective, Nolan becomes his provisional training officer to prepare himself for full training.
Recurring
*
Mircea Monroe as Isabel Bradford (season 1): Tim Bradford's ex-wife, a former undercover narcotics officer who turned into a drug addict
*
Sara Rue as Nell Forester (seasons 1–2; guest season 4): A former dispatcher for the LAPD whom Bradford bribes in order to get the best calls. In the season 4 episode "Day in the Hole" it is revealed that she is still with Ellroy Basso (
Alan Tudyk), and is a murder case podcaster.
*
Currie Graham as Ben McRee (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan's friend since their schooldays, who lets Nolan stay in his mansion as a house guest
*
Demetrius Grosse as Kevin Wolfe (season 1): A detective who is assigned to Isabel's case
* David DeSantos as Elijah Vestri (season 1): A detective who is assigned to Isabel's case. He is shot and killed midway during the first season in a shootout with a gang of drug dealers.
*
Zayne Emory as Henry Nolan: John Nolan's son who is a freshman in college. He becomes engaged to Abigail in the second season. He is shown to have a congenital heart condition in season three.
*
Michael Beach as Percy West (seasons 1–3): Jackson's father, the commander of Internal Affairs
*
Brent Huff
Brent Huff (born March 11, 1961) is an American actor, writer and film director. Huff is best known for his recurring role of Smitty in the hit ABC show, The Rookie. He has also had recurring roles in Shameless, Pensacola: Wings of Gold and Blac ...
as Quigley Smitty: A lazy training officer who lives in a trailer park across the street from the Wilshire station. In token of his under-the-radar attitude, he is usually only seen at roll call. In one episode, he unwillingly fills in for Lopez as West's training officer when Lopez is instructed to ride with Nolan.
*
Angel Parker as Luna Grey: Wade Grey's wife and mother of their daughter Dominique
*
Sarah Shahi as Jessica Russo (seasons 1–2): A former FBI hostage negotiator who now runs her own security firm and is a published author. She dates Nolan but later breaks up with him (in the episode "Safety") when a pregnancy scare prompts them to realize that they want different things from their relationship.
*
Matthew Glave as Oscar Hutchinson: A prisoner who escapes from a prison bus crash but is later apprehended by Lopez and West. Hutchinson eventually helps the precinct officers as an informant on several cases including former prisoners.
*
Harold Perrineau as Nick Armstrong (season 2; guest season 3): A new night detective who assists the LAPD Wilshire Division. Nolan is assigned to him on his first day and they become fast friends. Nolan is eager to learn from him as he has made detective after only four years as a patrol officer. A widower, Armstrong lost his wife to cancer while he was on a case to catch a ruthless serial killer and has since regretted not spending more time with her. During the second-season finale, Armstrong is revealed to be a dirty cop who began working for the Armenian mob because he needed money for his wife's medical treatment. He is injured in a shooting by Nolan before trying to frame him with planted evidence apparently proving Nolan has been working with the mob. In the first episode of the third season, Armstrong escapes from the hospital before his wounds are fully healed. When he meets the mob to execute Nolan, he is shot once more and killed.
*
Daniel Lissing as Sterling Freeman (season 2; guest season 3): A celebrity actor starring in a police procedural show, he witnesses Jackson take down a suspect and asks him to be a technical advisor on his show. He later falls in love with Jackson and they date briefly.
*
Ali Larter as Grace Sawyer (season 2): A doctor at Shaw Memorial Hospital. She and Nolan dated in college, but he broke up with her after discovering that Sarah (who would later become his wife) was pregnant with his son Henry. She becomes the team's immediate contact for medical treatment of suspects and officers, and she and Nolan tentatively date for a time, although she decides to give her relationship with her husband another chance when he comes back into her life.
* Jasmine Mathews as Rachel Hall (season 2): A social services agent whom Bradford begins dating after Chen sets them up on a date as part of a bet. Bradford and Hall grew close, and when Hall got a job in New York, Bradford considered joining the NYPD to be with her; when he discovered he would lose his rank, she told him it was best they went their separate ways, allowing him to choose his career over her.
*
Enver Gjokaj as Donovan Town (seasons 2, 4): Harper's ex-husband. Harper is fighting with him over joint custody of their daughter Lila.
* Carsyn Rose as Lila Town (seasons 2, 4): Harper's daughter from her marriage to Donovan
* Madeleine Coghlan as Abigail (seasons 2–3): Henry Nolan's fiancée. She expresses interest in becoming a police officer, going on a ride-along patrol with Nolan and Bradford, but a childhood criminal record (she set fire to her ex-boyfriend's car when he posted revenge porn of her online) prevents that idea from going any further.
*
Annie Wersching as Rosalind Dyer (seasons 2, 5; guest season 3): A serial killer and nemesis of Armstrong, the officer who had her convicted for murder. She assists the LAPD in finding unrecovered bodies as part of a plea deal. When Nolan discovers Armstrong is corrupt in the second season's finale, he visits Dyer in prison for more information. After Nolan's arrest in the first episode of season 3, Bradford and Chen go to her for further information. Following Armstrong's death, Dyer calls Nolan from prison to gloat that all of Armstrong's arrests are under review and she could potentially be released. In the season 5 premiere, Dyer escapes custody on the day of her trial with assistance from her inexperienced lawyer. She conducts a short "return" to her serial killer ways before setting an elaborate trap with an acolyte to try to have Nolan kill her and dies in episode 4 of season 5.
* Jeff Pierre as Emmett Lang (season 2): A firefighter who is a friend of Tim Bradford. He dates Chen after they meet at the scene of a car accident.
*
Hrach Titizian as Ruben Derian (season 2; guest season 3): A member of the Derian crime family who has recruited Armstrong and Erin Cole to help him destroy evidence that implicates his brother Serj for the murder of Chris Rios
*
Brandon Routh
Brandon James Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman (1978 film series character), Superman in the 2006 film ''Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the Dylan Dog, titul ...
as Doug Stanton (season 3): Jackson West's new training officer. Stanton abuses his authority to silence West when West becomes critical of Stanton's abuse toward non-white citizens. After West finally has enough and threatens to have his father, a senior IA officer, destroy Stanton's career, Stanton, in retaliation, deliberately abandons him so that he is severely beaten on a call. West and Grey gather evidence against Stanton via his body cam for this, leading to his suspension from the force pending termination. Stanton manages to get his termination reversed on appeal and is eventually reinstated, though at the cost of his TO status and loss of seniority. However, Grey combines both Stanton's and West's bodycam footages from the day of West's beating to produce a so-called retraining video that is shown to Stanton's colleagues at roll-call, exposing his actions and ruining his reputation in the LAPD.
*
Arjay Smith
Arjay L. M. Smith (born November 27, 1983) is an American actor best known for his teenage role portraying the title character of the Nickelodeon children's television series '' The Journey of Allen Strange''. Smith portrayed terrorist Laurent ...
as James Murray (season 3–present): A local resident in the neighborhood where Nolan and Harper are assigned to community outreach
*
Toks Olagundoye as Fiona Ryan (season 3): A professor in Ethics and Criminal Justice. Nolan attends her night classes in order to finish school and qualify as a training officer. She is also a well-known activist, specifically in civil rights and police reform, and has authored a book about racial inequality in the justice system.
* Dylan Conrique as Tamara Colins (season 3–present): a homeless high school student Chen takes under her wing and tries to help cope with her situation
*
Camille Guaty as Sandra "La Fiera" De La Cruz (season 3; guest season 4): A Guatemalan businesswoman and drug-lord. She acquired her nickname and reputation when, as a teenage mother taking her newborn son home, she was caught in the middle of a gang gunfight and killed men on both sides indiscriminately. She at first forms a civil relationship with Lopez, but after her son Diego is murdered by the son of a rival drug lord for attempting to fold his family's organization into hers, she vengefully attempts to have the son's own child killed in revenge. When this is foiled by the LAPD, she has Lopez and West abducted from the former's wedding; her men murder the latter for resisting and she wisks the former away to Guatemala, intending to keep Lopez alive until she gives birth to her child and then kill her and raise the child as her own. Fortunately, Lopez's colleagues and fiancé are able to track down and rescue her and her unborn child, and La Fiera is killed by them while trying to stop them.
*
Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez (season 5–present): Nolan's enthusiastic new rookie (Police Officer I)
Notable guests
*
Danny Nucci as Sanford Motta: An arrogant major assault crimes detective who looks down on rookies
*
Shawn Christian as Jeremy Hawke: Nolan's former training officer at the Academy who goes rogue
*
Joelle Carter as Megan Mitchell: Hawke's ex-wife who is fighting with him over custody of their son Logan
*
Niko Nicotera as Carson Miller: Isabel's former boyfriend and a drug dealer
*
Jose Pablo Cantillo as Franco DeSantis: A drug dealer who steals money from a drug bust after being tipped off
*
Beau Garrett as Denise: A woman who Nolan rescues on Valentine's Day who has an unhealthy obsession with him
*
Sean Maher as Caleb Jost: A prisoner who escapes from the prison bus crash in "Manhunt" but is later apprehended by Nolan, Bishop, and Russo
*
Mario Lopez as himself: A celebrity pulled over by Bradford and Chen for running a stop sign who tries to talk his way out of a ticket as part of an integrity test by LAPD Internal Affairs
*
Joel McHale as Brad Hayes: A former border patrol officer turned people smuggler for a cartel, who is placed under the protective detail of Bradford and Nolan
*
Michael Trucco as Sean Delmonte: An assistant district attorney who assigns Nolan and Bradford to a protective detail in "The Shake Up". He later returns in the second-season episode "The Dark Side" when he makes a deal with Rosalind Dyer in order to find the bodies of her previous victims.
* Jim Lau as Patrick Chen: Lucy Chen's father, who is injured by one of his patients and forced to go the hospital. He later has an argument with Chen regarding the LAPD's handling of mental health cases.
*
will.i.am as himself: Appears when a silent alarm is tripped at his residence, caused by a man who accidentally parachuted into the wrong yard and became stuck in a tree
*
Stephen Lang as Williams: The LAPD chief of police. He administers the oral exam to Nolan, Chen, and West during their midterm exam.
*
Felicia Day as Dr. Morgan: A CDC task-force specialist specializing in infectious diseases
*
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to '' Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 lis ...
as himself: Appears when Nolan and Grey respond to a disturbance at his restaurant
*
Mitch Pileggi as Rex: A bounty hunter and retired LAPD cop. He is good friends with Bradford.
*
Seamus Dever as Chaz Bachman: A lawyer who is arrested by Nolan and Lopez for buying drugs
*
Jon Huertas as Alejandro Mejia / Cesar Ojeda: An undercover DHS agent who is compromised and nearly killed by two assailants seeking information from him
*
Lauren Tom as Mrs. Chen: Lucy Chen's mother, who comes to stay at her apartment briefly after having an argument with Chen's father
*
Eric Weddle as himself: appeared during a
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
junior football camp. Was a high school football adversary of Bradford's.
*
Robert Woods Robert or Bob Woods may refer to:
Entertainment
* Robert Woods (actor) (born 1936), American actor in European films
* Robert S. Woods (born 1948), American actor
* Robert Woods (producer), classical music producer
Sports
* Robert Woods (offensi ...
as himself: appeared during a
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
junior football camp
*
Alan Tudyk as Ellroy Basso: A cleaner employed by the LAPD to help clean up crime scenes. He and Nolan later apprehend the criminals who committed the original crime when they return to the scene. He is later seen to be in a relationship wirth Nell Forester.
*
Michael Cassidy as Caleb Wright: A man whom Chen meets at a bar who later turns out to be a serial killer and Rosalind Dyer's associate
*
Pete Davidson as Pete Nolan: Nolan's half-brother whom he meets following his father's death
*
Seth Green as Jordan Neil: A man who steals Nolan's identity, causing his credit score to go down
*
Roselyn Sánchez as Valerie Castillo: An ambitious reporter
*
Bailey Chase as Michael Banks: A DEA agent who assists Nolan and Harper during a drug raid
*
Don Swayze as Sharp: A prison guard deputy at the California Correctional Facility who assists Nolan and Harper during a riot
*
Hannah Kasulka as Erin Cole: A rookie officer who is later revealed to be a dirty cop working for the Derians
*
Christopher O'Shea as Chris Rios: A rookie officer who is fatally shot by Serj Derian, leaving West devastated as the two had been close friends
*
Frances Fisher as Evelyn Nolan: Nolan's overbearing and manipulative mother
*
Frankie Muniz as Corey Harris: A former child actor who now runs a cult
*
Skyler Samuels as Charlotte Luster: Corey's childhood co-star and friend
*
Rainn Wilson as himself: A celebrity interviewed by a true crime documentary who owned the mummified body of
Charlie Chaplin
*
Molly Quinn as Ashley: The daughter of prisoner Oscar Hutchinson who is a
person of interest in a kidnapping case
*
Katy O'Brian as Rookie Katie Barnes
*
Emily Deschanel as Sarah Nolan: Nolan's ex-wife and mother to their son Henry
*
Kyle Secor as Sam Taggart: A DEA special agent assigned to the La Fiera case
*
Joshua Malina as Max: A man with ties to U.S. intelligence
*
Brandon Jay McLaren as Elijah Stone: A crime boss who forces Evers to be his crooked lawyer
*
Kathryn Prescott as Katerina Antonov / Linda Charles: A Russian FSB case officer who has gone rogue and was planning to kill all the men involved in a drone strike that killed her brother.
*
Piper Curda as Billie Park: A drug mule who os arrested by West and Chen when she attempts to flee during a rolling stop
*
Peyton List
Peyton List may refer to:
* Peyton List (actress, born 1986), American actress from Massachusetts; starred in ''Mad Men'', ''FlashForward'', and ''Frequency''
* Peyton List (actress, born 1998)
Peyton Roi List (born April 6, 1998) is an Ameri ...
as Gennifer Bradford: Tim's younger sister and the daughter of Tom Bradford.
*
James Remar
William James Remar (born December 31, 1953) is an American actor. He has played numerous roles over a 40 year career, most notably Ajax in '' The Warriors'' (1979), Albert Ganz in ''48 Hrs.'' (1982), Dutch Schultz in '' The Cotton Club'' (198 ...
as Tom Bradford: The alcoholic and abusive father of Tim and Gennifer Bradford.
*
Flula Borg as Skip Tracer Randy, a bounty hunter
*
Tamala Jones as Yvonne Thorsen: Aaron Thorsen's mother who is trying to publicize his life as a police officer.
*
Niecy Nash as Simone Clark: A trainee FBI agent who has the same priorities as John Nolan
*
Britt Robertson as Laura Stenten
*
Felix Solis as Matthew Garza
*
Kevin Zegers as Brendan Acres
*
Thomas Dekker as Jeffrey "Jeff" Boyle (Alias)/Eli Reynolds (Real name) on The Rookie: Feds
*
Bridget Regan as Monica the lawyer of Elijah
Production
Development
On October 26, 2017,
ABC announced a straight-to-series order for ''The Rookie'', starring ''
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
'' star
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
, and written by ''Castle'' executive producer and co-
showrunner Alexi Hawley Alexi is a given name that is a variant or nickname of Alexander or Alexandra. Notable people with the name include:
Men
*Alexi Laiho (1979–2020), full name Markku Uula Aleksi Laiho, Finnish singer, composer, and guitarist of the death metal b ...
. Fillion and Hawley serve as executive producers, along with
Mark Gordon, Nicholas Pepper, Michelle Chapman, and Jon Steinberg. The series is produced by
ABC Studios and
The Mark Gordon Company,
and premiered on October 16, 2018.
On November 5, 2018, ''The Rookie'' was picked up for full season of 20 episodes. On May 10, 2019, ABC renewed the series for a second season which premiered on September 29, 2019. On October 28, 2019, the series received a full season order of 20 episodes for the second season.
On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season which premiered on January 3, 2021.
On May 14, 2021, ABC renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered on September 26, 2021.
On March 30, 2022, ABC renewed the series for a fifth season which premiered on September 25, 2022.
Casting
With the series order in October 2017, Fillion was cast as John Nolan.
On February 7, 2018,
Afton Williamson and
Eric Winter were cast as Talia Bishop and Tim Bradford, respectively.
They were shortly followed by
Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen,
Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey,
Titus Makin as Jackson West,
Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez,
and
Mercedes Mason as Captain Zoe Andersen.
On August 4, 2019, it was announced that Williamson would not be returning for the second season due to the alleged racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault she suffered during the first season. On October 2, 2019,
Mekia Cox joined the cast as a new series regular, Nyla Harper, for the second season.
Filming
In January 2018,
Liz Friedlander
Liz Friedlander is an American music video, television director and television producer.
Originally from New York City, Friedlander moved to Pennsylvania to attend the Drama Conservatory school at Carnegie Mellon University. She then moved to ...
signed on to direct and executive produce the
pilot.
Production on the pilot began on March 7, 2018,
with filming taking place in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
,
Oxnard,
Burbank
Burbank may refer to:
Places Australia
* Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
United States
* Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County
* Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place
* Burbank, Illinois, ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
.
On April 15, 2021, police received a call of a possible shooting while filming was taking place between Hartford Avenue and West 5th Street in Los Angeles. Three gunshots were heard by various eyewitnesses and the production crew confirmed no one from the show was injured during the incident. Filming in the area was shut down as a result of the reports but filming continued at other already scheduled locations. Following the death of cinematographer
Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021, on the set of the film ''
Rust'', live weapons were banned from ''The Rookie'' while filming. Prior to the ban, the series occasionally used quarter or half rounds on large outdoor set pieces.
Showrunner Alexi Hawley stated that "any risk is too much risk" and explained that, going forward, only
airsoft gun
Airsoft guns are replica toy guns used in airsoft sports. They are a special type of low-power smoothbore air guns designed to shoot airsoft pellets, non-metallic spherical projectiles (pb) often colloquially (but incorrectly) referred to as "B ...
s would be used, with
muzzle flash
Muzzle flash is the light — both visible and infrared — created by a muzzle blast, which is caused by the sudden release and expansion of high-temperature, high-pressure gases from the muzzle of a firearm during shooting. Both the bl ...
es being added in
post production using
computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...
.
On-set misconduct and harassment allegations
On July 26, 2019, ''TVLine'' reported that
Afton Williamson, who portrays Talia Bishop, would not be returning for the second season. While the outlet initially claimed that the split was amicable, Williamson, in a lengthy Instagram post, stated that she had left the series due to having "experienced racial discrimination/racially charged inappropriate comments from the hair department."
Williamson also alleged that she was sexually harassed by guest star
Demetrius Grosse, who portrays Kevin Wolfe in a recurring role, as well as an incident of bullying that escalated into sexual assault at a party; the head of the hair department was identified as Sallie Ciganovich. Williamson claimed that she had gone to the showrunners multiple times with these allegations, but was ignored.
Everyone involved in the allegations denied them. An investigation was commissioned through the law firm Mitchell Sillerberg and Knupp along with a third-party firm, EXTTI, which conducted nearly 400 hours of interviews and examined video and other evidence. The results of the investigation were published on September 17, 2019, which found that the allegations made by Williamson had no merit and could not be proven. Williamson stood by her claims, calling the results of the investigation "heartbreaking" and postulated that the producers had lied to cover up the truth of what happened.
Release
Broadcast
''The Rookie'' is broadcast in the United States on ABC. The first season aired on Tuesday, while the second season aired on Sunday. ''The Rookie'' has been licensed in more than 180 countries and territories.
Home media
The first season was released on DVD in Region1 on August27, 2019, and in Region4 (Australia) on January22, 2020.
Spin-off
On February 8, 2022, ABC ordered a pilot for a planned FBI spin-off of the series starring
Niecy Nash. It was introduced in a two-episode
backdoor pilot during the fourth season. On March 9, 2022,
Kat Foster and
Felix Solis joined the cast of the spin-off. Also that month,
Frankie Faison joined the cast.
On May 13, 2022, ABC gave a series order under the title ''The Rookie: Feds''. It was then reported that the series had undergone creative tweaks that cut Foster's character, Special Agent Casey Fox. In June 2022,
Britt Robertson,
Kevin Zegers and
James Lesure joined the cast as series regulars.
The series premiered on September 27, 2022.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
reported a 68% approval rating with an average rating of 6.33/10 based on 22 reviews for the first season. The website's consensus reads, "Nathan Fillion's reliably likable presence makes ''The Rookie'' worth tuning in, even if the show around him isn't particularly memorable."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Ratings
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rookie (TV series), The
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Television series based on actual events
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Television shows set in Los Angeles
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