‘The Rookie’ Boss Gives ‘North’ Spinoff Update: ‘It Has a Different Energy’
Exclusive
What To Know
- The Rookie: North pilot, starring Jay Ellis as the oldest rookie in the Pierce County Police Department, has been completed.
- Showrunner Alexi Hawley expressed optimism about the spinoff and shares why it’s different from the original.
The Rookie universe could be expanding, and chances are we’ll know if a second spinoff is going to be ordered to series soon; networks announce their plans for the following season in mid-May. The Rookie: North pilot is completed.
“I’m hoping to hear soon,” The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley told TV Insider while discussing the upcoming Season 8 finale. “I feel incredibly optimistic. I’m an optimistic person by nature, but I do feel like it’s warranted. The pilot came out great.”
The series would star Jay Ellis as Alex Holland, who becomes the oldest rookie of the Pierce County Police Department after a violent home invasion. The cast also includes Chris Sullivan as the watch commander, Janet Montgomery as Alex’s training officer, Froy Gutierrez and Mya Lowe as rookies, and Karen Fukuhara and Malik Watson as training officers.
“Jay is a no-brainer. He’s such a TV star. He’s so talented,” raved Hawley. “The rest of the cast was equally great. It was one of those things where it felt like we’d been working together forever, even with the pilot. There was an ease. I did put them through some police training. We sort of separated them into the rookies train together and the TOs and Chris Sullivan trained together. So you already start to do those lines, the differences between them.”
He continued, “We just had a really special experience and I think that it couldn’t have come together better. And it does feel like The Rookie and yet not. I think the sort of really changing location to Pacific Northwest, and it just has a different vibe. It has a different energy, which is really cool. So yeah, I’m excited.”
As for any potential crossovers between the two shows, should North be picked up, Hawley previously admitted that would be a bit “challenging.” He explained to us in January, “Physically, we’re going to shoot at least the pilot up in Vancouver. And probably we would shoot the series there, too, just because of the location is Pacific Northwest, which you can’t do in L.A.”
Are you hoping to see The Rookie: North join ABC’s lineup in the 2026-2027 season? Let us know in the comments section below.
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services