As a major fan of The Rookie, the year 2025 gave me a lot to be thankful for related to the police procedural drama series. For example, several episodes that aired on ABC for the first time in 2025 included moments that reminded me why fans love the show. On top of that, I have been very happy with several of the ways that the show's storylines have progressed over the last year.
Now that 2025 is set to end soon, I am looking forward to The Rookie's future as the new season's premiere is right around the corner. Unfortunately, comments that were made by some of the stars of The Rookie have made me worried about the show's future and the actors who make it possible.
The Rookie's cast revealed that they have suffered serious injuries while filming the show
In November 2025, People published an article summarizing comments that the cast of The Rookie made when they appeared during the 2024 Epic Con Chicago event. That article stated that the cast of The Rookie opts to do their own stunts, which has resulted in them suffering serious injuries. For example, Melissa O'Neil described the "crazy" time she cracked her head on concrete, which caused her to suffer "a full-on concussion," complete with scary symptoms. "Nauseous, personality change — the whole thing."
On top of Lucy Chen's actor describing that frightening injury she suffered, Shawn Ashmore talked about how he got hurt while filming scenes as his character, Wesley Evers. "All I had to do was tackle a guy. First take, adrenaline is going, 'Action!' And I hit him. I ran into him, and I felt a lightning bolt go through my body. “Cut to 12 hours later, we’re done with the day of shooting, and I go home, and I’m like ‘I’m in pain.'" Ashmore then explained that after he was still suffering five days later, his wife insisted he go to the hospital, which resulted in him learning that he'd broken a rib.
Eric Winter also bringing up the time that he accidentally injured Alyssa Diaz while filming the show. According to People's article, Winter stated that he “was really into Cobra Kai” when he accidentally hurt his co-star when they filmed a fight scene together.
Whenever new episodes of The Rookie air, there is an expectation that there will likely be some action. For that reason, it makes sense that the show's recently released trailer for its eighth season teased a lot of danger for The Rookie's main character. In order to film those scenes, there is always going to be some level of danger for the people involved. Thankfully, however, there are stunt performers whose entire careers are dedicated to learning to do dangerous things as safely as possible.
I am certain that a lot of safety measures are used to protect the cast of The Rookie when they are performing stunts. On top of that, it seems likely that there are stunt performers who take over for the most dangerous filming moments. Still, the fact that The Rookie's filming has led to some serious injuries, with O'Neil's sounding especially brutal, makes me worried that the show's actors are being allowed to film too many of their own stunts.