‘The Rookie: North’: Jay Ellis & Janet Montgomery Tease Their Characters & Crossovers

The Rookie franchise will be expanding in 2027. The new spinoff, The Rookie: North, has officially been ordered to series and is set to join the original, starring Nathan Fillion, on ABC’s schedule in 2027.

In the new series, Jay Ellis stars as Alex Holland, “who believed his midlife wasn’t worthy of a crisis,” according to the official description. A violent home invasion changes that and leads to him becoming a rookie in the Pierce County Police Department. The cast also includes Janet Montgomery, Karen Fukuhara, Chris Sullivan, Froy Gutierrez, Mya Lowe, and Malik Watson.

TV Insider caught up with Jay Ellis and Janet Montgomery (who plays Alex’s training officer) at the Disney upfront carpet on Tuesday, May 12, to get a taste of the new series.

Janet, what’s your character seeing in Alex as he’s getting into this job?

Janet Montgomery: I think that Jay can’t help but be incredibly charismatic and I think that she does find him funny and that can be difficult sometimes, but she also finds him — he goes rogue a lot. He doesn’t listen and she’s trying to train him, so that can be difficult at times with her. But I think you’re very endearing. [To Ellis]

Jay Ellis: But he does lose focus sometimes.

Montgomery: He does. He certainly does.

And Jay, what does he see in her as a training officer?

Ellis: It’s interesting. I think he sees someone that he can learn from, but I think he also sees someone who maybe could like open up her parameter or kind of maybe, I don’t want to say think outside the box, but like the strength that I think he brings as an older rookie is all this life experience and being able to look at things from a different way based on all the jobs he’s had and life that he’s lived and he brings that to work, which isn’t necessarily how you do police work, but maybe it could be.

Nathan Fillion is in the pilot. What’s his dynamic like with your characters?

Montgomery: [To Ellis] Most of the stuff with Nathan is with you actually. I have like a very brief moment, but really it’s like the connection between you two and I really like that because you’re not the same at all, but there’s like a kindred spirit and I think you guys would be best friends and like if they were real characters in real life, I think they would yell them really well.

Ellis: Yeah. I think he’s going to be someone that Alex calls for advice a lot. A lot.

Everyone loves crossovers. Hopefully we’ll get plenty of crossovers.

Ellis: Hopefully we’ll get a ton.

Which characters from The Rookie do you think your characters will get along with and which are they going to clash with?

Montgomery: Well, we just decided that I would get along with Tim [Eric Winter].

Ellis: And I could not get along with Tim. Alex could not get along with Tim, right?

Montgomery: No, no, no, no. I don’t think so. I don’t know. I feel like Alex would get along with everyone, but you would rub Tim the wrong way.

Ellis: Yeah, that’s what it is. Yeah. Alex would rub Tim the wrong way.

Montgomery: You’d be like, “What’s your problem with me?”

Ellis: Yeah, that’s the issue.

And what are you excited for Rookie fans to see that’s unique about your show?

Ellis: I would say this cast first and foremost.

Montgomery: I was going to say exactly the same thing.

Ellis: Well then jump in.

Montgomery: I was going to say that this is … I’ve never done a show where I feel like everything has been so well cast and it really is. It’s like the main six, seven of us, it just works and we’re all so different, but when you bring it all together, it’s a really exciting cast.

Ellis: I also think we get to explore really beautiful and exciting and diverse terrain because the show is based out of Tacoma. And so with that, you can be on the ocean one day, you can be on the Pacific Ocean one day, you can be in a sound, you can be in an urban city center, you can be in a neighborhood just out the suburbs and then you can also be like up in the mountains. So I think we also get a really big sandbox to play in.

And what’s one relationship for your character besides the one between your characters that you’re excited for fans to see?

Ellis: Oh, I know who mine is. It’s Froy and Karen.

Montgomery: Yes. Yeah, but then I also really love Malik and Mya. What I like about the pilot is we are in pairs because you’ve got the training officer and the rookie, but I know that now we’re going to series, that’s all going to get mixed up. And so I’m really excited to work with Froy and to work with Malik and I think that’s the exciting part. But right now in the pilot, you’ve got like three strong rookies with three different training officers and it’s really fun. Alexi does a really good job of making it funny in amongst all the drama.

The Rookie: North, Series Premiere, 2027, ABC