TVLine has confirmed that Tru Valentino, who joined the light ABC procedural as recurring in Season 4 and got promoted in Season 5, will not be back as a series regular for Season 7.
Valentino played Aaron Thorsen, a TikTok-famous personality who, after being acquitted of a headlines-making murder charge, joined the Mid-Wilshire Division as a rookie cop. Thorsen had Detective Nyla Harper (played by Mekia Cox) as his TO, though Officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) pitched in during Nyla’s Season 5 maternity leave.
TVLine’s confirmation of Valentino’s exit comes on the heels of the actor’s absence from the show’s San Diego Comic-Con appearances, and one month after the ABC series added two recurring guest stars for Season 7.
As previously reported, Deric Augustine, whose TV credits include All American (as Clay), Godfather of Harlem and Shameless, will play Miles, a Texas transfer who despite having two years under his belt, will be a rookie at the LAPD.
Patrick Keleher, of Funny or Die’s The Egos, meanwhile will play Seth, who may seem like the ideal police officer, but the job requires quick, decisive action — and that, alas, is something that doesn’t come naturally to him.
Through seven seasons thus far,The Rookie has experienced relatively little cast volatility for a procedural with a large cast. Mercedes Masohn was the first series regular to exit, when her Captain Zoe Andersen was killed off in heartbreaking fashion in Season 1; Afton Williamson, who played Officer Talia Bishop, parted ways with the show ahead of Season 2; and the Season 4 premiere shockingly revealed that Titus Makin’s Officer Jackson West had died following the events of the Season 3 finale.
ABC’s fall schedule for the 2024-25 season features a Tuesday line-up of Dancing With the Stars leading into the new drama High Potential. Neither The Rookie nor Will Trent are anywhere to be seen, held as they both are being held for “midseason.”
The good news, though, is that once the two dramas return, they’ll do so in non-stop runs — of 18 episodes each, TVLine hears.
“They’re going to go straight through,” with no breaks/reruns, Craig Erwich, president, Disney Television Group told TVLine in May, “and that kind of momentum of original episodes week-in and week-out is just a very powerful engine for both of these shows.”
