Jay Ellis just teased what The Rookie fans can expect from The Rookie: North spinoff — starting with the biggest differences between the shows.
“We’re doing something different. I think we are honoring what The Rookie has created and what that entire cast has created, which is something so beautiful and so special,” Ellis, 44, exclusively told Us while promoting his new campaign with Citibank and American Airlines. “It’s going into its ninth season so there’s a reason for that — and we are very much honoring that.”
Ellis noted that The Rookie: North is doing its “own thing,” adding, “We’re a completely different cast with completely different characters. We’re in a completely different part of the world — in terms of the Pacific Northwest. So I think we are creating our own spin on what that is.”
The Rookie, which premiered in 2018, follows police offers from a precinct in Los Angeles. The show stars Nathan Fillion, Eric Winter, Melissa O’Neill, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Mekia Cox, Shawn Ashmore and Jenna Dewan.
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ABC previously expanded the franchise with The Rookie: Feds, which ran from 2022 to 2023. The Rookie: North introduces fans to Ellis’ Alex, the oldest rookie for the Pierce County Police Department in Washington State after a violent home invasion.
“The fun thing about this show is we go from urban and from city to rural in a matter of miles. What that creates in a lot of ways in a smaller department — especially — is you don’t have the same resources that a department like L.A. would have,” Ellis teased. “What that means for us is sometimes you’re out there on your own or you’re out there just with your partner and you guys have to figure it out because backup is going to take 20 minutes to get there.”
Ellis was thrilled to see how high the stakes can be raised.
“Someone from the cast [asked] me the other day, ‘So how does someone not get killed in season 1?’ And I was like, ‘Don’t worry about it. Just have fun. We’re just gonna go make a great show,’” he said.
In addition to Ellis, The Rookie: North also stars Chris Sullivan, Janet Montgomery, Froy Gutierrez, Karen Fukuhara, Mya Lowe, Malik Watson and Curtis Lum.
“The pressure melts away when you really start to realize that we’re not here to compete,” Ellis told Us. “The thing that we all think about is like, ‘Oh, how fun will it be for us to be able to like send folks to L.A. and folks from L.A. to come up to the Tacoma area. We get to have this big universe that will probably expand again at some point. That’s a lot of fun.”
He continued, “It’s a dream to be able to do something like that in this business. Making a TV show is really hard and getting a TV show on air right now is probably harder than it’s ever been. We all count ourselves very lucky.”
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On the topic of potential crossovers, Ellis didn’t rule out any scenarios.
“Grey’s Anatomy makes sense because it’s in Seattle. So that’s an easy one. I wonder if anyone at ABC has thought about that. I’m sure they have,” he quipped. “But I would kind of love to go to Abbott Elementary.”
Ellis also pitched himself for a future season of Dancing With the Stars, saying, “I’d do a little cha-cha or a little salsa. I would do that. That’d be fun.”
The actor, who is always booked and busy, is pulling double duty balancing The Rookie: North and his role on Running Point. Luckily, his partnership with Citi and American Airlines has helped him when on the go with the Citi / AAdvantage Executive Mastercard.
“I come from an aviation family. My maternal and paternal grandparents were in the Air Force. My dad was in the Air Force and then he went to work for American Airlines, where he still works 30 years later. My uncle worked for American Airlines for 30-something years,” Ellis shared. “So travel has been in my family for a very long time. We all have this wanderlust and love to get on a plane and go somewhere and explore.”
Ellis called the collaboration “a dream,” saying, “We get to take these things that we love — or at least these things that I love — and all these experiences and cultures and moments and food and beautiful landscapes. I also get to do it very comfortably, which I think is really really cool.”
He added, “The Citi / AAdvantage Executive Mastercard allows me to travel in a very comfortable way, which makes me super happy. A lot of perks and a lot of miles so that makes me super happy.”
