Nathan Fillion has been playing Office John Nolan on ABC’s hit police drama The Rookie since 2018. While the actor has had many projects since then, including a stint in James Gunn’s Superman and a role as a talking octopus in Resident Alien, Fillion says there’s a special place in his heart for The Rookie.
In a new interview with People, Fillion talks about how he doesn’t think he could ever give up playing Officer Nolan and can’t think of what life would be like without the five-time Emmy-nominated series. He said even a decade down the road, he’d still love to be playing the character, but did talk about what he might do if and when the series ends.
“I’d either teach acting — particularly how to act through distraction — or I would do, like, a sunset booze cruise where everybody would still have to call me captain,” joked Fillion. “I’m so fortunate to do what I love to do, which is acting and telling stories, and then there’s this whole other component to it that is so bizarre, the celebrity part of it, he said, adding, “I like to think that this whole industry is a bit wacky and zany.”
Fillion said he’d like The Rookie to last for at least 10 more years, and for the show to maybe spawn a spinoff or seven. “In 10 years, I would like to be just wrapping up The Rookie, maybe handing it off to someone else,” he said. “And then spend a soft retirement visiting The Rookie and dabbling in the four to seven Rookie spin-off series that are still going and very popular. In the meantime, when I’m not working on those, I would like to be in my beach house,” he stated.
