Behind The Scenes of The Rookie with Exclusive Photos of The Set and Cast!

Do you love Nathan Fillion as The Rookie? I had the chance to go behind the scenes at ABC studios and visit the set of The Rookie and I've got exclusive photos and details!

I cannot wait to tune into The Rookie tonight. It's become a Tuesday favorite for many and I think I know why. Besides being a well-written crime drama, the series has a pretty awesome cast, including stars Nathan Fillion as John Nolan, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey, Titus Makin as Jackson West, Mercedes Mason as Captain Zoe Andersen, Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen, Afton Williamson as Talia Bishop and Eric Winter as Tim Bradford.

If you aren't already familiar with the The Rookie, here's what it's about:

Starting over isn’t easy, especially for small-town guy John Nolan who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being a police officer. As the force’s oldest rookie, he’s met with skepticism from some higher-ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis. When you throw in a workplace romance, a hostage situation and some tough love from their new training officers, the latest Los Angeles police rookie class has an uphill battle ahead of them.

On my recent trip to Los Angeles for the Ralph Breaks the Internet Premiere, I got the extraordinary opportunity to visit the set of The Rookie. Visiting sets is so interesting to me and I love to get to peek behind the proverbial curtain and see how my favorite shows are made.

Behind the scenes on the set of The Rookie

We were greeted on-set by the gorgeous Mercedes Mason, who plays “Zoe Andersen.” She spent quite a bit of time with us, guiding us through the set and she was absolutely lovely. She talked to us about the show and even quipped about how tired she was since becoming a new mother earlier this year.

Before our visit, we were told that it wasn't likely that Nathan Fillion, who plays "John Nolan," would be on set that particular day. You can imagine our delight when we saw him filming a scene on the monitors. Like millions of others, I've been a fan of Fillion's since I watched him on Castle and was excited to see him in person.

As we walked through the set, in between filming, we ran into Afton Williamson. Let me tell you, this woman is just as stunning in person as she appears on television, AND she was super kind and welcoming. She even posed for selfies with some of the members of our group.

It is so cool to see the actors and the extras and how the set works. While we were there, they were filming an episode called “The Hawke.” In this episode, Nolan and the team must help capture a cop and his former mentor from the academy after he becomes a fugitive following an assault. Meanwhile, Officer Tim Bradford
needs Officer Lucy Chen to learn to predict the moves of criminals in order to capture them.

This episode features special guest stars Danny Nucci as Detective Sanford Motta, Ryan Michelle Bathe as Detective Jennifer Paige and Shawn Christian as Jeremy Hawke. “The Hawke” was written by Fredrick Kotto and directed by Timothy Busfield. Alexi Hawley is a writer and executive producer; Mark Gordon, Nathan Fillion, Michelle Chapman, and Jon Steinberg are executive producers on the series.

We got to walk through different parts of the station and the attention to detail is pretty amazing. Little things like a pack of sticky notes on a desk or memos on the bulletin boards really make the space feel realistic.

During our set tour, we got a lot of fun photos ops!

(ABC/Eric McCandless)

We even got a group photo with actors Nathan Fillion, Afton Williamson, Richard T. Jones, and Mercedes Mason.

(ABC/Eric McCandless)

Special thanks to Mercedes Mason for giving us a fantastic tour behind the scenes of The Rookie! Be sure to tune into The Rookie on Tuesdays at 10|9c on The ABC Television Network, or you can catch it streaming or on demand right this very minute!

Will you be tuning into The Rookie?

Thank you to Disney and ABC Studios for inviting me on this press trip. All opinions are my own.