‘The Rookie’ Star Shawn Ashmore Teases ‘The Purge’ Tribute in ‘April Fools’ Episode: ‘Expect the Unexpected’

Fresh off of last week’s episode, “Speed,” which paid tribute to the ’90s action classic of the same name, “The Rookie” pays homage to yet another familiar film in Season 7, Episode 12: “April Fools.” But despite what you might expect, the series doesn’t tip its hat to a comedy. Instead, the April 1 episode embraces the citywide chaos of hit horror franchise “The Purge” for both comedic and dramatic effect, dropping the Mid-Wilshire crew into a prank gone horribly wrong. How wrong? “Potential mass casualty event,” as the preview portends.

Ahead of the episode debut, “The Rookie” star Shawn Ashmore told TheWrap that viewers should “expect the unexpected” when they tune in. “I think that’s how I felt when I was watching the episode,” Ashmore said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I know what’s going to happen,’ and the journey was really fun. So, just enjoy that ride.”

Check out an exclusive image of Ashmore’s ADA Wesley Evers in action above and read on for more of what the actor had to say about “April Fools.”

I watched this episode before I saw the preview, so when I realized it was setting up a Purge night, I genuinely laughed out loud. What was your reaction? Was it something you knew was coming, or did you learn as you read the script?

No, I didn’t know at all. What I think “The Rookie” does so well is that you walk between comedic and more light-hearted into the tragic and intense, hand in hand. Whenever there’s a traffic stop in the show, you don’t know if it’s going to be something funny or something life or death. So reading, the episode starts off with a little bit of romance and a little bit of fun, and then it’s kind of like, ‘Oh, this is all just going to be an April Fool’s thing.’ It’s like, well, it’s the new rookie. You know, everybody’s in on it with Nolan, and the Ben Dover case that Wes is dealing with. I think the episode sort of lulls everyone into a false sense of security, like, this is going to be one of those fun episodes. And then, on a dime, it switches. It becomes this very intense Purge night of difficulty in Los Angeles.

I didn’t see it coming, which is kind of fun. I like that the show can flip like that, and yet still stay grounded. I mean, we can have fun with it, but then when it needs to be intense, it can be and it all still feels like the same world.

You set me up beautifully for something I was going to ask, which is that you guys often have to walk the line between silly and serious. After seven years and hitting a lot of different tones, how do you keep Wesley consistent?

It’s good writing, and also, you figure out — basically, I think at the beginning, it was challenging for me. I was like, “Okay, so when I’m when I’m playing scenes, should I play them on the lighter side? Should they be more grounded, like we’re heavier?” And I think my instinct was not to play it as light as I’ve been. Once I found my feet, I realized, “Oh, this is the tone of the show, and this is what really works for the characters.”

But yeah, the writing is consistent. They don’t throw any curveballs. It’s like, if there’s a shift in a scene or in a storyline, it’s set up for you as the performer to track. It’s not like, “Okay, well, now you fall off a cliff, and now you have to make this sharp turn.” There’s always a build. And I think the audience, too, has seen these characters, you know, enjoy life and go through the most extreme difficulties, which is like real life. You know what I mean? One day, you can have the time of your life. The next time there’s a tragedy that happens, or something you know happens to a friend, and then you have to make that shift. And so to me, it feels very real life. It feels like these characters, specifically the police officers, that are in life and death situations all the time, have to enjoy the moments when they can enjoy them, and then step into that role of police officers or first responders or a DA when they need to. So it’s kind of like that balance between their professional life and their personal life, and hopefully, in their personal life they can have those moments of joy.

“The Rookie” actually films in Los Angeles, which I always think is kind of a miracle, considering how difficult it can be to get from point A to point B on a given day. What was it like shooting a mini Purge in the city?

It was incredible, even the set that I was on, which was basically a closed-down street and a big building downtown with debris everywhere. It felt like a giant featured film, you know, we have the helicopter spotlights shining down on us, and hundreds of background performers, and cars and lights.

It’s fun, days like that, where you’re not sitting on the stage, like two or three people talking. It always feels exciting. “Oh, we have the big crane today, we have a big light.” So it was fun. I thought it looked incredible, and seeing the episode, I thought it was really, really effective.

When I was talking to Melissa, she was saying, like, from an actor’s perspective, sometimes you have to imagine a lot of stuff that happens off screen, because there’s so much going on. It’s such a big ensemble. This is a very silly question, but who takes care of the Wopez baby when they’re both unexpectedly working late because it’s Purge night?

That’s either probably Angela’s mom popped over and helps out, or Wesley’s mom pops in and helps out. Or, I feel like we’ve had kind of nanny sitters in the past, not like someone that’s consistent, but somebody pops in. But I agree. I do sometimes think about that. I mean, I have a seven-year-old, and I’m like, man, these, these two professionals are out in the world, and they must have a very good network and community to help look after the little ones when they’re out trying to save the world.

The X-Men movies are definitely having a moment again, especially after “Deadpool and Wolverine,” have you noticed younger audiences recognizing you more since that came out?

I don’t know. You know, I think that the X-Men films, although they’re kind of like old school now, you know what I mean, I think they’ve kind of held their relevance. And so, I do feel like people my age, I’m 45, when they want to get their kids into it, like, “Oh, you like the Marvel stuff? You should check out what we were watching when we were younger.” And so there’s always this constant influx of younger viewers of the X Men stuff. That’s that’s from my perspective. So I haven’t noticed, like, a significant shift in younger viewers.

But the other thing that’s strange is, I have a seven-year-old son, and he’s not old enough to watch any of those, but at school those, there’s kids that are in older grades that are starting to watch those movies and be like, “Wait, your dad was in it?” That kind of thing, which is kind of fun. And my son’s like, “Meh, I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. I’m not allowed to watch those yet. But that’s kind of interesting to sort of have that experience where contemporaries, my kid’s friends or older friends, or his friend’s older siblings are starting to be like, Hey, I saw you in that thing. And that feels pretty cool.

Well, “The Rookie” just keeps getting more and more popular as the seasons go on. Has that overtaken as the No. 1 thing people shout you out for, or is there something else that’s still up there?

Definitely “The Rookie.” I mean, there will be times where I go to, like, a Trader Joe’s and 10 people throughout my shopping are like, “Hey, I love the show. I watch the show.” And I always ask people, “Where are you on the show? Like, at what stage and how did you find out about the show?” Because some people are like, “Well, I just started watching it.” And then some people are like, “Oh no, I’ve been watching it from the beginning.” But Tiktok, it’s such a huge way of getting into it. And then obviously, with the show being able to stream all the episodes all the time on Hulu, people are catching up and re-watching, or I’ll have people like, Oh, “I’ve watched it 13 times, like my comfort show. I just have it on, and you can always pop in.” And that feels great to know that people are enjoying the show.

But yeah, right now, definitely “The Rookie” is the thing I get most recognized for. But it’s also “X-Men,” I have a lot of horror films I’ve done in my career. So the people that are into that …

[Raises Hand]

[Laughs] Oh yeah? I have a new horror film called “It Feeds” coming out, actually, if you’re into that kind of stuff.

But definitely, I feel how popular “The Rookie” is right now, just going shopping, going on the street. And the other weird thing too, is Los Angeles is not the kind of city where people come up to you and say that, so that’s sort of how I know that the show has such a big reach, is because even in LA, where people don’t usually say anything, people are just coming up and just like, “Hey, last episode. Loved it,” or “Hey, we’re almost caught up,” you know? And it feels great to be a part of something that that people enjoy.

And the other thing that I’ve noticed is people watch it … It’s a multi-generational show. It’s the show that grown people can watch with their older parents, or parents are watching with their teenagers. It’s sort of like there’s this big crossover where it has a little something for everybody, and people can watch it together. And I think that’s a really important and cool thing for a network television show to do, to cross over between a 17-year-old enjoys it and a 70-year-old watches it too, and they can all watch it together and then discuss. I think everybody has a character or a type of storyline that they can really relate to.

That’s definitely true in my house. We’re not inter-generational, but very much it’s a comfort show that we love watching together.

That’s amazing, and that’s all you can hope for when you when you’re making a television show, that people enjoy the experience. And again, the difference between a film and network television is that you have to be with these characters in your living room for years, like over 100 episodes. So there is sort of like a likability that I think the characters have to have, you want the storylines and the characters to feel familiar, because there’s that sort of like sense of like comfort with them. But they also can’t get stagnant, so it’s like that really weird balance of like, okay, “Wesley still has to be Wesley and has to be true, but he always has to be growing and changing enough so that it doesn’t feel like it’s super stale.

Our writers do an amazing job of that. I have to credit them for keeping that alive. And I even said to Alexi [Hawley], we watched the first episode 701, at Paramount on a big screen. And I watched that episode, and it was cool, because there was sort of like this reboot, with having a really specific storyline with our two new rookies at the beginning of this season. But even for everybody else, I saw different notes in Nolan than I have seen these first six seasons, and in all the characters. There are these little subtleties and things that keep growing, and I think that’s kind of what keeps you watching the show.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

“The Rookie” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and airs the next day on Hulu.

The post ‘The Rookie’ Star Shawn Ashmore Teases ‘The Purge’ Tribute in ‘April Fools’ Episode: ‘Expect the Unexpected’ appeared first on TheWrap.