As ‘The Rookie’ Reaches Its 100th Episode, Nathan Fillion Mulls Over the Show’s Hard-Won Success

The Rookie has graduated from primetime newbie to veteran TV show as it reaches its 100th episode, a milestone star and executive producer Nathan Fillion says tells you, “Whatever you’re doing, you’re doing something right.” Since debuting in 2018, the ABC police procedural has sustained faithful viewership amid both internal and industrywide obstacles, including the pandemic and most recently, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Fillion, who portrays John Nolan, the oldest rookie in the LAPD, credits the drama’s longevity to creator and showrunner Alexi Hawley, with whom he also worked on ABC’s Castle from 2009-16. “I think what keeps people coming back is the time they spend with these characters,” says Fillion, who teases the possibility of new romantic plotlines during season six. “Anytime you throw two different characters in a squad car together, you know you’re going to get different dynamics, and people are tuning in to that.” Ahead of the 100th episode on Feb. 27, Fillion chats with THR about the series’ resilience and what it gets right.

Police procedurals, historically, have great longevity. When you signed on for The Rookie, did you think that you’d be in it for the long haul? 

What I knew was that I was getting into business with a person that I’d worked with before in Alexi Hawley. I know how he likes to tell stories. I know how he likes to run a show, which is incredibly important because that’s my day-to-day, day in and day out. What I saw was that he had an interesting new “in” to the police show. This concept of the restart for John Nolan, that was our pathway into this classic TV genre. And what I’ve noticed since is that it’s the engine that will keep this thing moving. 

John Nolan has persevered through numerous personal and professional changes over the years. What aspect of his character progression have you most enjoyed portraying? 

His willingness to learn something new. All too often in life, we become habitual. I think as we grow older, it’s a perfectly normal part of nature to think that you know everything. But his willingness to leave everything behind and start again is one of his best characteristics. 

The show’s guest star list is quite notable. Who stands out to you? 

One of the people I had the most fun with is Pete Davidson, whom I met on The Suicide Squad. When I first met him, I thought, “He and I are probably not going to be best pals.” And within four minutes, I was embarrassed and ashamed because I’d judged a book by its cover. He’s an incredibly kind man. Within two or three days, I invited him to do an episode, and he graciously accepted. He’s wildly talented and always brings a flavor to the character that’s realistic. It’s been a pleasure seeing what this unlikely friend of mine can do with being an unlikely half-brother and friend to my character. 

The Rookie has had a lot of real-world events to contend with. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, cop shows were under a lot of scrutiny. Did that have any bearing on storylines going forward? 

Yes, absolutely. We want our show to emulate life, and that was certainly a part of what we were all going through at the moment. We had an incredible storyline where my good friend Brandon Routh portrayed a racist police officer, which is a reality, and it’s something that we wanted to address. A fulfilling part of this program for me is hearing about parents watching the show with their kids and appreciating how it starts conversations about what is a very serious issue, policing in general. We were all very nervous, and rightly so, but we’ve managed to keep our heads above water and thrive. 

In 2021, live weapons were banned on The Rookie in light of the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. How did that affect your set environment? 

Any time there’s a firearm onstage, it can be terrifying. We’ve taken some gun safety courses with our police consultants, but that’s not something they require actors to do. So heaven forbid you hand a weapon that fires blanks to a guest castmember who’s just there for the day, and they’re excited and their mind is in a lot of different places. It can be more than daunting. There really are no advantages to having a blank in a pistol versus an Airsoft gun [which replicates the action of a real firearm without using projectiles]. With the 24 frames per second, we often miss the muzzle flash that can come with a blank, so we have to add it in the end with a computer anyway. Now we add in the bubble flashes and the sound later. Just the idea of everybody being safe takes a tremendous weight off. 

The Rookie: Feds spinoff was a casualty of the writers and actors strikes. How was The Rookie affected? 

I think if anything, it made us all more grateful to see how fragile this industry is. It wasn’t anything that The Rookie: Feds did, it was the circumstances of the strike, and it was sobering knowing it could’ve been any of us. A lot of shows didn’t make it through that strike. But here we are, continuing to tell these stories that we enjoy telling. After 30 years in the business, this is the best job I’ve ever had among the crew, the people I work for, the support we’re getting from the network, and this incredible cast. There’s nothing that I could throw at this cast that they couldn’t handle, and it’s a real privilege to work at a place where I smile when I drive to work every day.

What do you hope the legacy of The Rookie will be? 

One of the worst nightmares for a television actor would be to be forgotten. I would hope the legacy is it turns out to be one of those classic TV shows that people always think about when they think about cop shows, something they think about when they think about a reset. I want it to become, not iconic, but culturally embedded. If legacy means it has to end first, I hope our legacy doesn’t come for a while yet.

This story first appeared in the Feb. 28 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.