The Mid-Wilshire Division is getting some new recruits! While the The Rookie won’t be returning until 2025, fans can at least look forward to the addition of not one, but two new rookie cops. Keep reading to see who’s joining The Rookie in Season 7, plus more casting details.
Who’s joining The Rookie in Season 7?
The Rookie has cast actors Deric Augustine and Patrick Keleher as recurring guest stars in Season 7. Showrunner Alexi Hawley previously hinted at this casting shakeup while speaking to our sister site TVLine at the Disney upfront event. “We’re looking at the end of Celina’s 13 months, so to speak, at some point in the coming season, so I think it’s fair to say that there might be a new rookie or two showing up at some point,” he explained, referencing the Mid-Wilshire Division’s current newbie, Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez).
It’s unclear when in the season Augustine and Keleher will come on board, but we do know who they will be playing. Augustine, who is best known for playing Muhammad Ali in the first two seasons of MGM+’s Godfather of Harlem, is set to play Miles, a rookie who is new to the LAPD but previously served as a police officer in Texas for two years. Augustine’s other credits include the CW’s All American, Shameless, Criminal Minds, and Cloak & Dagger.
Meanwhile Keleher will portray another new rookie named Seth, who needs to work on his quick-thinking skills in high-pressure situations. Keleher is fairly new to acting, and his upcoming role will mark his TV debut.
The casting news did not reveal if the two new guys will be riding with John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), the original rookie who is now a training officer, but we can assume that he’ll take at least one of them under his wing like he did for Celina and Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil), among others.
Barring any updates, the entire ensemble cast is expected to return for Season 7. This includes Nolan, Chavez, and O’Neil, as well as Eric Winter, Shawn Ashmore, Melissa Diaz, Mekia Cox, Richard T. Jones, and Jenna Dewan, though the latter will miss the first few episodes, as she just welcomed her third child.
Sadly, Season 7 will not premiere this fall along with the other ABC primetime shows. Instead, it will have a midseason premiere in January 2025. Craig Erwich, president of Disney Television Group, defended the network’s decision to hold both The Rookie and Will Trent, telling TVLine: “It felt like the best way to platform those shows for success was to launch them in January, when we have this huge promotional platform in New Years Rockin’ Eve as well as college sports and Christmas programming, and also to give these shows an uninterrupted run.” He added that Season 7 will feature 18 back-to-back episodes: “They’re going to go straight through … and that kind of momentum of original episodes week-in and week-out is just a very powerful engine for both of these shows.”
