The Rookie

Premise

The series follows John Nolan, a 40-year-old newly divorced man from Pennsylvania, who – nine months after helping police officers during a bank robbery in his hometown, Foxburg – moves to Los Angeles to pursue a new career as a police officer in the LAPD. After graduating from the police academy as the oldest rookie on the force, Nolan must navigate the dangerous, unpredictable nature of his job. He is determined to make it in his new career despite the challenges.

During an interview, series lead Nathan Fillion said 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 years old. The man whose story inspired the premise of the show was later revealed to be William Norcross, a college friend of executive producer Jon Steinberg's, who based the show on his story. Norcross continues to serve in the LAPD and also as executive producer on The Rookie.

Cast and characters

Main

Nathan Fillion as Jonathan "John" Nolan: The oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), he is assigned to the Mid-Wilshire Division. He was studying at Pennsylvania State University, but dropped out and went into the construction business upon learning Sarah, his girlfriend (and eventual wife), was pregnant. At the age of 45, when facing a divorce notice, Nolan talks down a robbery attempt at a bank in his hometown of Foxburg. With a newfound purpose, he closes his construction company in Pennsylvania and moves out west to become a police officer. He is divorced, and Henry, his son, is away at college. Nolan becomes a training officer in the later seasons to teach the next generation of cops and help make positive change in the LAPD.

Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez: An LAPD officer, she is assigned as the training officer to Jackson West. She marries Wesley Evers and becomes a detective and mother of two in the later seasons.

Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey: A sergeant (later lieutenant), watch commander at the Mid-Wilshire Station, Grey initially believes Nolan may be changing careers because of a midlife crisis and doubts he is suitable for police work, but later comes to recognize him as a capable and competent police officer and friend. Grey served in the Army before joining the LAPD. He has a daughter who is attending college in New York City. He later takes a job in the FBI as a senior liaison.

Titus Makin Jr. as Jackson West (seasons 1–3): An eager, if somewhat naive, rookie, he is the son of Commander Percy West, head of the LAPD's Internal Affairs Division. At the top of his class at the police academy, he is firmly committed to the LAPD and strives to be the best officer he can be, as he wants to maintain his family's traditions. He is killed in the fourth season premiere while trying to resist his and Lopez's abductions by La Fiera.

Mercedes Mason as Zoe Andersen (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan's confident and irreverent commanding officer. Andersen, a police captain, used to be a Marine serving with the military police. After leaving the Marine Corps, she spent a year with the United States Pentagon Police Criminal Investigations Directorate before joining the LAPD. Because of her prior experience, Andersen has risen through the ranks very quickly, to the point where some of her officers see her more as a boss than a fellow officer. She is shot and killed late in the first season while protecting Nolan from a vengeful criminal.

Recurring

Mircea Monroe as Isabel Bradford (season 1; guest season 5): Tim Bradford's ex-wife. She is a former undercover narcotics officer who developed a drug addiction as a result of her work. Tim breaks up with her to give her time to recover. She later reappears in season 5, after becoming sober, so she and Lucy can go undercover together.

Sara Rue as Nell Forester (seasons 1–2; guest seasons 4, 6): A dispatcher for the LAPD. Tim bribes her to get the best calls. She is later revealed to be dating Elroy Basso.

Currie Graham as Ben McRee (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan's friend since their school days. He lets Nolan stay in his mansion as a house guest until Nolan moves out. He leaves Los Angeles after being assaulted by a mugger who steals his car.

Sarah Shahi as Jessica Russo (seasons 1–2): A former FBI hostage negotiator. She now runs her own security firm and is a published author. She later takes a job with the Department of Homeland Security while briefly dating Nolan. They break up when she realizes he is not ready to have more kids.

Demetrius Grosse as Kevin Wolfe (season 1): A detective who is assigned to Isabel's case. He does not return after the death of his friend Detective Vestri.

David DeSantos as Elijah Vestri (season 1): A detective who is assigned to Isabel's case. He dies of gunshot injuries sustained in an ambush, that also wounds his friend Detective Wolfe.

Zayne Emory as Henry Nolan (seasons 1–3; guest seasons 4, 6): John Nolan's son. He is a freshman in college, but drops out to work for Ben McRee's foundation. He becomes engaged to his girlfriend, Abigail, in the second season. In season 3, he is revealed to have tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart condition. He and Abigail eventually split up, as revealed in season 7.

Michael Beach as Percy West (seasons 1, 3; guest season 6): Jackson's father, the commander of Internal Affairs. Oscar Hutchinson accuses him to Jackson of being a dirty cop back in the old days, causing a momentary rift between him and Jackson.

Notable guests

Danny Nucci as Sanford Motta: An arrogant assault 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: Jeremy'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 whom Nolan rescues on Valentine's Day, who has an unhealthy obsession with him.

Sean Maher as Caleb Jost: A prisoner who escapes from a prison bus crash but is later apprehended by Nolan, Talia, and Jessica.

Mario Lopez as himself: A celebrity pulled over by Tim and Lucy for running a stop sign who tries to talk his way out of a ticket as part of an integrity test by Internal Affairs.

Joel McHale as Brad Hayes: A former border patrol officer who smuggles people for a cartel and is under the protective detail of Tim and Nolan.

Ashley Argota as Bella: A woman arrested by Tim and Lucy.

Jim Lau as Patrick Chen: Lucy Chen's father, who is injured by one of his patients and forced to go to the hospital. He later has an argument with Lucy regarding the LAPD's handling of mental health cases.

will.i.am as himself: A celebrity who 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.

Crossover characters

Niecy Nash as Simone Clark (seasons 4–5): A trainee FBI agent who has the same priorities as John Nolan and is the protagonist of The Rookie: Feds.

James Lesure as Carter Hope (seasons 5–7): Simone's training agent.

Britt Robertson as Laura Stensen (seasons 5–7): Simone's FBI colleague.

Felix Solis as Matthew "Matt" Garza (seasons 4–present): An FBI special agent in charge and team leader.

Kevin Zegers as Brendan Acres (seasons 5–7), Simone's friend and FBI colleague.

Devika Bhise as Antoinette Benneteau (season 7): An FBI agent and Brendan's partner.

Michelle Nuñez as Elena Flores (season 8): Garza's niece and the Special Investigative Unit's tech analyst.

Ryan Seacrest, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie as themselves: The host and judges of American Idol.

The cast of Game Changer (Anna Garcia, Vic Michaelis, Zac Oyama, Sam Reich, and Jacob Wysocki) as themselves

Production

Development

On October 26, 2017, ABC announced a straight-to-series order for The Rookie, starring Castle star Nathan Fillion, and written by Castle executive producer and co-showrunner Alexi Hawley. 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. On April 17, 2023, ABC renewed the series for a sixth season which premiered on February 20, 2024. On February 17, 2024, executive producer and showrunner Alexi Hawley confirmed in an interview with TVLine that the sixth season would contain ten episodes. On April 15, 2024, ABC renewed the series for a seventh season, which premiered on January 7, 2025. On April 3, 2025, ABC renewed the series for an eighth season, which premiered on January 6, 2026. On April 13, 2026, ABC renewed the series for a ninth season.

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 Jr. 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.

On September 27, 2021, it was announced that Makin Jr. would not be returning to the show due to his personal conviction that the show's portrayal of a Black police officer did not adequately address the realities of police brutality and racial injustice, particularly in the wake of the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor killings. On November 1, 2021, Jenna Dewan was upped to regular for season 4. On July 21, 2022, Tru Valentino joined the main cast for season 5. On August 8, 2024, it was confirmed he would exit the series before season 7 due to creative reasons.

On December 14, 2023, Lisseth Chavez was promoted to regular for season 6. On April 22, 2025, it was announced that Deric Augustine will be upped to regular for season 8.

Filming

In January 2018, Liz Friedlander 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, Oxnard, Burbank and New York City. 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 that 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 guns would be used, with muzzle flashes being added in post-production using computer-generated imagery.

In 2025, the show filmed scenes in Prague, Czech Republic, for the premiere of season 8.

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 left the series due to having "experienced racial discrimination/racially charged inappropriate comments from the hair department". The head of the hair department was identified as Sallie Ciganovich. 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. 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 and repeats are syndicated across 95% of the country. 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. As of April 1, 2025, the first five seasons of The Rookie were made available for streaming on Disney+ via the Star content hub in Australia and New Zealand. It is also streaming on Netflix in most regions and on Paramount+, Crave and Netflix in Canada.

Syndication

In 2024, reruns of The Rookie began airing on Lifetime.

Home media

The first season was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 27, 2019, and in Region 4 (Australia) on January 22, 2020.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 68% approval rating with an average rating of 6.3/10 based on 22 reviews for Season 1. 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, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Spin-offs

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 Season 4. 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 Rookie: Feds aired from September 27, 2022, to May 2, 2023. It was canceled on November 9, 2023, after one season as a consequence of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

On December 5, 2024, it was reported that a second spin-off series was in development. The series would be set in Washington state and center around a "male cop who is stepping into a new phase of life in his second act". Created by Hawley; Fillion, Norcross, and Chapman would serve as executive producers. The series will be co-produced by Lionsgate Television and 20th Television. By July 2025 the project had entered the casting stage under the working title The Rookie: North, and was on track to receive an order for a pilot episode. Casting was delayed in September to allow more development time for the script and in hopes that a more well-known actor would become available. At this time, Hawley anticipated that filming would begin in early 2026. In May 2026, The Rookie: North received a series order.