When it comes to how things come together behind-the-scenes of your favorite successful television show, there is often a connection of some kind. Cut to The Rookie welcoming Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson for a guest stint on the Nathan Fillion-led series. What at first seems like an obscure casting decision actually makes a lot of sense when you add The Suicide Squad to the equation.
Nathan Fillion joined the cast of the upcoming Suicide Squad sequel, The Suicide Squad, in an unspecified (and super-secret) role. Pete Davidson is also in the movie, which led to Fillion and Davidson getting to know each other. Well enough, in fact, for a guest spot on The Rookie to happen!
Now, Pete Davidson is set to play Nathan Fillion’s brother on an upcoming episode of The Rookie. Davidson’s character is the exact opposite of Fillion’s John Nolan. Adding to the drama, John apparently had no idea he had a half-brother. Explaining the backstory to how Davidson’s guest spot came to be, Nathan Fillion told ET Canada:
Met a lot of really crazy, amazing, cool people. Made some new friends, one of which [is] Pete Davidson. He’s come to The Rookie to play my brother. The miscreant ne’er-do-well brother who’s always in trouble versus the brother who’s a cop. Now they finally meet. He didn’t even know he had a brother
This sounds compelling! How Pete Davidson made his way to The Rookie was one of those organic things born from a friendship that flourished on-set. It will be interesting to learn what happens. Davidson recently acknowledged nearly quitting Saturday Night Live last year, but has remained with it. SNL is a very different show from Nathan Fillion’s The Rookie.
It sounds like The Rookie could be exploring some situational comedy with Pete Davidson’s arrival as John Nolan’s younger brother. For those who miss the comic stylings of Castle in the cop procedural, Davidson’s run could provide a glimmer of something along those lines. Fans of The Rookie will have to wait and see.
For his part, Nathan Fillion clearly likes reuniting with the co-stars he has loved to work with. You can add Pete Davidson to the list! For Fillion, having guest stars like Davidson is a dream come true. He shared his enthusiasm for meeting talented people and having them guest-star on The Rookie, saying:
I mean, I love my job. I absolutely love my job. My worst day is a great day. To go out and do a project and meet actors who are fun, who enjoy their job, who are good at their job, who are wells of talent within them. You just understand, my god, these people are bubbling with talent. They’re just brimming with it. ‘Would you come and do an episode of the show?’ ‘Yes, I would.’ ‘Really? Okay.’ You’re just making those connections, and bringing and tying those things in. That’s what I imagined this industry to be like: meeting people that I think are great and working with them. And that’s what’s happening.
There you have it! Nathan Fillion just wants to share in the love of having talented actors on The Rookie. It seems like Fillion was incredibly impressed by what he experienced in the company of Pete Davidson while working on The Suicide Squad. Fans will see Fillion and Davidson share the screen on The Rookie before they do in the movie.
As it stands, The Suicide Squad should arrive in theaters on August 6, 20201. Pete Davidson guests star on The Rookie in the March 8 episode entitled “Follow-Up Day.” There is undoubtedly anticipation up for both projects, even if Fillion is not playing who fans thought (Arm-Fall-Off-Boy) in The Suicide Squad.
New episodes of The Rookie air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. If you need another TV show while waiting for Nathan Fillion and Pete Davidson to play brothers, there are always this winter and spring’s premieres.
