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Nathan Fillion is the face of the ABC police procedural “The Rookie,” but he’s given some thought to life after the show. Luckily for fans of “The Rookie,” Fillion, 54, isn’t planning to leave anytime soon. He’d like to spend another decade playing John Nolan, and he wants the series to continue after he leaves. “In 10 years, I would like to be just wrapping up ‘The Rookie’, maybe handing it off to someone else,” Fillion said during a recent interview with People. “And then spend a soft retirement visiting ‘The Rookie’ and dabbling in the four to seven ‘Rookie’ spin-off series that are still going and very, very popular. In the meantime, when I’m not working on those, I would like to be in my beach house.” Fillion also has ideas for other occupations once he steps away from the “wacky and zany” entertainment industry. “I’d either teach acting — particularly how to act through distraction — or I would do, like, a sunset booze cruise where everybody would still have to call me captain,” he quipped. For now, Fillion is loving life on “The Rookie,” which premiered on ABC in 2018. Season 8 is set to kick off on Jan. 6, 2026. “My favorite part is that [fans] always tell me that they’re watching [‘The Rookie’] with their family, that they get together with their friends and this is their show,” Fillion said. “It’s an event that they share. Bringing people together, I think that’s probably one of the best parts of my job.” READ MORE: ‘The Rookie’ season 8 cast changes: See who’s returning and who’s not In addition to Fillion, “The Rookie” stars Shawn Ashmore (Wesley Evers), Deric Augustine (Miles Penn), Lisseth Chavez (Celina Juarez), Mekia Cox (Nyla Harper), Arjay Smith (James Murray), Jenna Dewan (Bailey Nune), Alyssa Diaz (Angela Lopez), Richard T. Jones (Wade Grey), Melissa O’Neil (Lucy Chen), and Eric Winter (Tim Bradford). Bridget Regan will also reprise her role as the villainous Monica Stevens in season 8. Seasons 1-7 of “The Rookie” are available to stream on Hulu.
