The Rookie with Nathan Fillion has been one of the most popular police series for many years and is now in its 7th season. What many people in this country don’t know: The The main role of the late-career police officer is based on a real person – who starred in season 1 herself and hunts criminals in real Los Angeles.
The real rookie’s name is Bill Norcross and he became a police officer at the age of 44
In The Rookie, Nathan Fillion (Castle) as police rookie John Nolan in his 40s has to assert himself against his much younger colleagues. In order not to waste any more time, he gives up his company and moves to Los Angeles to make his dream come true. In truth it is the story of real-life LAPD officer William Norcross.
At age 44, Norcross left his family business in Doylestown, Pennsylvania and moved to LA, over 4000 kilometers away. In contrast to the series character, the real rookie does not have a son that he left behind. And the series turned the family printing company into a construction company.
Norcross also reveals the reason why he pursued his dream career so late. When he was still in college, his mother died. Since she was very important to the family business, he wanted to help out there.
“Before I knew it, 20 years had passed,” he sums up. LA has always appealed to him and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has no age limit. Then suddenly the midlife crisis set in and the rest is (series) history.
What happened? Norcross’ Is The Rookie series alive? The New York Post writes in its 2019 profile of the passionate cop that he shared everyday professional anecdotes at monthly lunches with his old friend Jon Steinberg. He started curating the stories, says Norcross:
[Jon Steinberg] had experience in the entertainment business and thought it would be a unique premise for a cop show.
His friend would come with him “talked to a few people” and that’s how the whole thing came about. Norcross and Steinberg are involved as producers on The Rookie.
In Season 1 of The Rookie is See William Norcross himself in uniform
In the 19th episode of the 1st season William Norcross plays himself as a police officer on duty. The episode is called The checklist. The rookies have to solve certain cases in order to qualify for the final exam.
Regardless of his guest appearance, the cop and producer regularly stops by the shoots:
On days off, I like to stop by the set and chat with Nathanthe other actors and visit the Writer’s Room.
He is always available to those responsible for the series. Privately, he doesn’t talk too much about the series because he wants to pursue his job in peace.
You can stream seasons 1 to 4 of the entertaining police crime thriller on Netflix. Disney+ * already has 6 seasons of The Rookie in the flat rate and WOW * has been running the 7th season in the original sound in Germany since January 10, 2025, shortly after the US premiere. It will take a little longer until season 7 of The Rookie comes out in German.
Podcast tip: Why The Rookie is so popular
In the Moviepilot podcast stream rummage we discuss what actually makes The Rookie so popular:
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In addition to the classic Nathan Fillion humor, The Rookie also features a lot of authentic-looking police work and patrols that are captivating. But this cop series can’t avoid a very special problem.
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