‘The Rookie’ Cast Talks ‘North’ Crossovers, Grey’s New Job & More

Meredith Jacobs October 13, 2026, 12:57 pm

The Rookie continues to be a hit for ABC, now heading into its ninth season, and when it returns, it will do so with a new spinoff right after, The Rookie: North. Both series premiere on Wednesday, January 6, 2027, at 9/8c and 10/9c.

And so when the cast — Nathan Fillion, Richard T. Jones, Melissa O’Neil, Mekia Cox, Alyssa Diaz, Shawn Ashmore, Lisseth Chavez, and Deric Augustine and North‘s Jay Ellis — and showrunner of both, Alexi Hawley, stopped by TV Insider’s New York Comic Con studio to take some portraits and discuss the new season, you know we had to ask about the dynamic between Nolan (Fillion) and Alex (Ellis) since the latter is in the same position the former was years ago. Expect FaceTime calls between the two.

“Nathan and Jay have a lot of very similar situations because I’m reliving experiences from my first season that you are going through now,” Fillion notes in the video interview above (there’s a part 2 coming!) before turning to Ellis.

Deric Augustine, Alyssa Diaz, Alexi Hawley, Richard T. Jones, Lisseth Chavez, Shawn Ashmore, Melissa O'Neil, Nathan Fillion, Mekia Cox, and Jay Ellis — 'The Rookie' in TV Insider's New York Comic Con 2026 Studio

Matt Doyle / TV Insider

“It’s going,” the Rookie: North lead says. “I mean, the cameras are rolling. What I think is interesting is that first interaction is a bit of Alex looking for some help. And I think I often reach out to you every once in a while for a little bit of like, ‘Hey, what did you guys do for this? And should we do that? And is this working or is this not working? Am I crazy about this?’ And I think it’s going great. I mean, I basically just steal everything you say, but it comes out of my mouth so they believe it came from me.”

'The Rookie' Cast Teases 'Hell' for Kidnapped Chenford in Season 9 Premiere

There’s also a bit of a rookie twist on the original series this season, with Grey (Jones) getting moved to the detectives bureau and becoming Nyla (Mekia Cox) and Angela’s (Alyssa Diaz) boss. “More importantly, you get to dress real smart,” Fillion interjects.

“I get to be a rookie,” Jones adds. “I get tutored. I get schooled by Nyla and Lopez.”

Watch the full video interview for more from the cast and stay tuned for part 2!

The Rookie, Season 9 Premiere, Wednesday, January 6, 9/8c, ABC