Nathan Fillion is a seasoned actor, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune to the blooper reel — especially on the set of The Rookie.
Us Weekly has an exclusive look at Fillion’s funniest outtakes over the years as officer John Nolan on the ABC series ahead of season 7’s premiere in January. “Hey, I’m officer Nolan … Nolan? I’m officer No … yeah, I am, f—!” Fillion, 57, hilariously says in the “Rookie Mistakes with The Rookie” reel, while his scene partner, Lisseth Chavez, who plays trainee Celina Juarez, manages to stay in character.
In a separate scene, the actors are walking down a hallway in a hospital as Fillion’s Nolan tries to riddle off a long list of issues he had with an unnamed character.
“He’s selfish, brutal, unethical,” he says before taking a big pause. “He’s a lot of things.” A flustered Fillion grabs onto Chavez’s arm and grits his teeth before they walk off camera. “I forgot all these,” he confesses.
In a second hospital-based clip, Nolan meets with Tim Bradford (Eric Winter), while Tim is recovering from an accident. “There he is, out of the hospital two days,” Fillion says before realizing his mistake.
“Hospital? You’re in a hospital,” he quips, getting a goofy grin on his face and widening his eyes in disbelief. Winter, meanwhile, can’t help but let out a laugh while watching the mishap unfold from his hospital bed.
Fillion’s fumbles didn’t stop at the hospital. At one point, when Nolan goes to a crime scene with Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and has trouble leaving a phone message.
“Hey, it’s John and Lucy, how’s it doing? I’m gonna start again,” Fillion says as O’Neill keeps the phone steady. “Hey, it’s me. You gotta. Let me start again,” he mutters before they take a break.
One of Fillion’s other bloopers includes unknowingly wearing a face mask while exiting a vehicle and walking toward the camera. He later jumbles up his words while describing an election poster inside the Los Angeles precinct.
“Our union delegate helps us decide what goes on to the it,” Fillion says, trailing off on the last word. “Our union delegate helps decide, what?”
The blooper reel concludes with Fillion making a big gulping sound in one scene, which prompts laughter from the crew. The final scene shows Fillion throwing his hands up in the air and dropping his police radio. “You are done sir,” the director says off camera.
Us kicked off The Rookie’s blooper reel rollout, which will continue as the show gears up for its return in January. Fillion will also be dropping his own outtakes reel for fans, followed by more cast videos in celebration of the new season.
While the Los Angeles Police Department will be down an officer — Us confirmed in August that Tru Valentino, who plays Aaron Thorsen, won’t be returning — many fans are even more worried about Tim and Lucy’s romance getting back on track. (Tim pulled the plug on the relationship in season 6 after he hid his Army past from Lucy and realized it put her in jeopardy.)
“[Tim] is trying to do whatever he can to make things better, to really earn [Lucy’s] trust back, whether it’s as a friend or more,” Winter, 48, exclusively told Us in October. “And we see him go through therapy, we see him go through veterans groups. We see him start to talk to people and share what it’s been like for him. And at the same time, I think he’s trying to be the best coworker he can still be and find a way to, like I said, earn [Lucy’s] trust back. So we’re seeing a lot of that out the gate.”
He teased the upcoming season will be full of “twists and turns” and personal growth for Tim. “Let’s say maybe everybody thinks that that’s his girl and he leaves her high and dry for no reason because [he’s] working on himself,” Winter added. “And you’re seeing him put in the work this season, you’re seeing her process that and how they can work together as colleagues. And we’ll see if the romance is going to build back into something or not.”
Season 7 of The Rookie premieres on ABC Tuesday, January 7, at 10 p.m. ET. Fans can stream all episodes on Hulu.
