Nathan Fillion has an idea of when he’d like to give up the badge and leave The Rookie. But fans needn’t worry: He wants to keep playing Office John Nolan for years yet.
In a new interview with People, Fillion says he’s down to stay on the ABC police procedural for another decade or so. “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 spinoff series that are still going and very, very popular.”
And between now and that “soft retirement,” Fillion has daydreams of finding a beach house to which he can escape. “I want to have a place on a beach, someplace tropical, where birds are always singing and I can hear the ocean,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m going to live there full time, but I would like to have the option to go there all the time.”
Nathan Fillion as Nolan, Eric Winter as Tim, and Melissa O’Neil as Lucy — ‘The Rookie’ Season 7 “The Kiss”
Mike Taing/Disney
As for life after The Rookie, Fillion told People he’s interested in teaching acting — or, he joked, operating “a sunset booze cruise where everybody would still have to call me captain.”
Fillion explained he’s “so fortunate to do what I love to do, which is acting and telling stories,” And even though he finds fame bizarre, interactions with fans make it all worthwhile.
See the Cast of ‘The Rookie’ Behind the Scenes of Season 8
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See the Cast of ‘The Rookie’ Behind the Scenes of Season 8
“My favorite part is that they always tell me that they’re watching it with their family, that they get together with their friends and this is their show,” he said. “It’s an event that they share. Bringing people together, I think that’s probably one of the best parts of my job.”
The cast and crew of The Rookie are busy filming Season 8 ahead of its January 6 premiere, and we already know Nolan and his Mid-Wilshire Division colleagues are headed to the Czech city of Prague in the first episode back.
“You want a [new] season, you want something exciting. You want to start with a bang. Exciting set pieces…something explodes! Or, go to another country,” Fillion said at San Diego Comic-Con in July. “It felt like we were making Casino Royale. It’s an amazing city.”
The Rookie, Season 8 Premiere, Tuesday, January 6, 2026, 10/9c
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