The The Rookie franchise is expanding once again, and this time the spinoff is heading to the forests of Washington state. ABC’s upcoming pilot The Rookie: North has just added five new cast members as series regulars, including Froy Gutierrez, who viewers recently saw in I Love LA. The network is moving forward with this standalone project, which centers on a man who decides to become a police officer after surviving a terrifying home invasion.
The casting news dropped on February 12, 2026, confirming that Janet Montgomery, Karen Fukuhara, Mya Lowe, and newcomer Malik Watson will join Gutierrez in the pilot . They will star opposite Jay Ellis, who was announced as the lead back in November 2025. Unlike the previous spinoff The Rookie: Feds, this new project will not get a backdoor introduction on the original series. Instead, it is shooting its own standalone pilot in Vancouver this month .
Who Are the New Rookies and Training Officers in The Rookie: North?
The casting breakdown reveals a balanced mix of rookies and their training officers. Each character brings a unique background to the small-town police force in Pierce County. Here is the full list of who is playing whom in the pilot:
- Froy Gutierrez as Odell Chance: He is a new rookie who finds everything easy. Odell is cool, athletic, and confident. He aced the police academy without breaking a sweat. But he has never faced a real test on the job, and that is about to change .
- Karen Fukuhara as Leah Mizuno: She plays Odell’s training officer. Leah comes from a family of overachievers who did not support her decision to become a cop. For her, policing started as an act of rebellion, but she ended up genuinely loving the work .
- Janet Montgomery as Charlotte Dru: Charlotte is Alex Holland’s training officer. She is a former military police officer who brings precision and discipline to the job. Despite her no-nonsense attitude, she has a dry and unexpected sense of humor .
- Mya Lowe as Elora Howe: Elora is another rookie in the group. She is chasing a new sense of purpose, holding onto it like an oasis in the desert. She hopes this new path is real and not just a mirage .
- Malik Watson as Mark Lewis: Mark serves as Elora’s training officer. Described as a cowboy with sharp edges, he might seem rough around the edges. But he is exactly the kind of officer you want showing up when things go wrong .
These five actors join the previously announced Chris Sullivan, who will play Sgt. Nix, the recently promoted Watch Commander who still misses working on the street .
What Is The Rookie: North About?
The official logline for the pilot explains the story behind The Rookie: North. The series centers on Alex Holland, played by Jay Ellis. Alex thought he would never have a midlife crisis. But everything changes after a violent home invasion shakes him to his core. The incident wakes up a sense of purpose he did not know he had .
Alex decides to leave Los Angeles behind. He joins the Pierce County Police Department in Washington as its oldest rookie. This is a huge change from the busy city streets he knows. He now has to learn to police in rural areas with dense forests and wide-open land. Backup is not just five minutes away out here. Alex must prove himself to his training officer, his fellow rookies, and most importantly, to himself .
Alexi Hawley, the creator of the original The Rookie, wrote the script for the pilot and will also direct it . He explained that the setting immediately makes the show different. In Los Angeles, if you need help, the entire department shows up. In rural Washington, officers might have to wait 15 minutes or more for backup. That changes how they approach every situation .
Hawley also shared more about Alex’s background. The character has been bouncing around in life. He went to law school, but something happened that made him abandon that path. Unlike Nathan Fillion’s character John Nolan, who was a successful contractor going through a divorce, Alex is more lost and searching for meaning .
Where Is The Rookie: North Filming and When Will It Air?
Production on the pilot is happening right now. The team began shooting in Vancouver in February 2026 . Hawley confirmed that prep work started earlier in the year, and the plan was always to shoot at the end of February .
If ABC picks up the show for a full series, it will likely air during the 2026-2027 television season . There are currently no plans for Jay Ellis to appear on the original The Rookie this season. However, Hawley did not rule out the possibility of future crossovers if the spinoff is successful. He noted that filming in Vancouver while the main show films in Los Angeles makes it harder, but it is not impossible .
Who Are the New Cast Members?
Viewers might recognize several faces in this new cast. Here is a quick look at where you have seen them before:
- Froy Gutierrez: He is known for playing Nolan in Teen Wolf and Jamie Henson in Cruel Summer. He also starred in the horror film The Strangers: Chapter 1. Most recently, he appeared in the first season of the Freeform series I Love LA .
- Janet Montgomery: Fans of New Amsterdam will remember her as Dr. Lauren Bloom. She also starred in the supernatural series Salem .
- Karen Fukuhara: She is best known for her role as Kimiko in the hit Prime Video series The Boys. She also appeared in Suicide Squad .
- Mya Lowe: She has had roles in Yellowjackets, My Life with the Walter Boys, and the Fox crime drama Murder in a Small Town .
- Malik Watson: This is his first major acting gig. Interestingly, he previously appeared in an episode of the original The Rookie, where he played a character named Leshawn Wilkes .
How Is This Spinoff Different from The Rookie: Feds?
This is the second attempt to expand The Rookie universe. The first spinoff, The Rookie: Feds, lasted only one season. That show used a backdoor pilot, meaning the characters were introduced in an episode of the original series before getting their own show.
The Rookie: North is taking a different approach. It is shooting a completely standalone pilot. There are no plans to introduce these characters on the mothership first. This gives the creative team a chance to build the world from the ground up without being tied to the Los Angeles stories .
The tone and setting are also different. While The Rookie deals with the chaos of a massive city, North will focus on the challenges of rural policing. The dense forests and wide-open terrain create a different kind of danger. When things go wrong out there, officers are truly on their own .
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What Happens Next for The Rookie: North?
The pilot is currently in production in Vancouver. After filming wraps, ABC will review the footage and decide whether to order the show to series. Given the strong cast and the popularity of the original The Rookie, which is currently airing its eighth season, the chances look good .
The Rookie airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC . For now, fans of the franchise can keep watching John Nolan’s adventures in Los Angeles while waiting to hear if Alex Holland will get his own show in Washington.
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