The Rookie is just a little over a month away from premiering its fifth season on ABC (just a couple of days before the debut of its spinoff), and now fans can count on another new cop coming into the fold. What’s more – this cop will be played by a star who already has experience playing a police officer. Rookie fans, prepare to say hello to Chicago P.D. alum Lisseth Chavez!
Lisseth Chavez has joined the hit drama to play a rookie by the name of Celina, according to Deadline. She’ll come into the fold after finding success at the Academy and gaining confidence because of it, although this might be more of a challenge than an asset for her training officer. It’s not clear at this point who her training officer will be, but Nathan Fillion’s John Nolan could be a candidate.
The actress is listed as a guest star for multiple episodes, so it should be interesting to see how Celina fits into the fold and whether she could ultimately be bumped up to series regular status. Chavez certainly has experience playing a younger cop on a team, even though her most recent regular role was on the cancelled Legends of Tomorrow. She previously played Officer Vanessa Rojas on Chicago P.D., and was a key part of Season 7 with some strong bonds to longtime major characters.
The NBC show never gave an explanation for what happened to Rojas that she disappeared between the end of Season 7 and beginning of Season 8 (and I for one still want to know), and P.D. has moved on enough that the answer may never come. Even if that’s the case, she’ll be in cop mode again for The Rookie, although it’s safe to say that Celina and Rojas will be different kinds of characters.
The Rookie is already filming with the newcomer for Season 6, as proven by a post on the show’s official Instagram site that shows Lisseth Chavez in costume. Take a look:
Fellow The Rookie actress Jenna Dewan hit the comments on the post to say “Yesss” with a couple of emojis to go along with the support, and a number of fans in the comment section shouted out her work on Chicago P.D. in response to her Rookie casting. In Chavez’s own Instagram post about the news, her former P.D. co-star Tracy Spiridakos (who was a fan of her character’s dynamic with Rojas) posted “🥳🥳!!!,” and former Legends of Tomorrow stars including Caity Lotz, Nick Zano, and Tala Ashe posted some emoji congratulations as well.
The peek behind the scenes doesn’t give away any details other than what the actress will look like as the show’s newest rookie, but her casting is just the latest exciting news to come out of this show and TV universe after its early renewal. After a successful backdoor pilot starring Reno 911! alum Niecy Nash back in the spring, The Rookie: Feds will premiere in September as the first spinoff of the Nathan Fillion show.
See Lisseth Chavez in Season 5 of The Rookie after it premieres on Sunday, September 25 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC in the 2022 TV premiere schedule. If you want to revisit earlier episodes of the series before it returns in September, you can find all four seasons so far with a Hulu subscription.
