ABC's The Rookie is one of ABC’s top scripted dramas, and it also happens to be one of Hulu’s most watched series; nearly five hundred million hours have been streamed since 2018. For veteran actor, producer, entrepreneur, and show favorite Eric Winter, the series' success has much to do with its deeply devoted fans. It's been years of dynamic performances across tv and film (Rosewood, The Good Doctor, The Witches Of East End, Brothers + Sisters, Harold + Kumar, The Ugly Truth, to name just a few) that have brought the UCLA grad and onetime model to what he describes as a refreshing role on The Rookie. Winters' Tim Bradford is "complex, heavy, deep, grumpy, angry, and well-meaning"...and not what audiences had seen from him in the past. Creating the vision for his character alongside writers has been a joy for Eric, as is the cast he calls family. Six seasons in, we caught up with Winter to hear about what he wanted to sink his teeth into to play Tim, what he hears most often from his audience, and what he describes as The Rookie "rollercoaster" ride of relationships. With a talent for TikTok and frequent creative collaborations with multi-talented wife Roselyn Sánchez including a book and a podcast, we also heard a little about life outside of acting like his love for music, who he taps for health and wellness, what he's binge-watching, the launch of his unique blend of Palm Republic rum, and more.
When you were first introduced to your character, Tim Bradford, what do you recall as the thing you really wanted to sink your teeth into as an actor and for this role? I really loved the challenge of playing someone who is totally opposite from what people have seen me play in the past. I had never played a character like Bradford: someone so complex, so heavy, so deep and grumpy and angry, but so well-meaning. The most exciting thing has been diving in and creating my character with the writers, creating my vision for him and giving him likeability even though people couldn't stand him and even though, on the page, he came across like such a jerk. It was super important for me to show a side of him that people could relate to and empathize with. What he had been through came out in the story with Max's wife. It delivered on its own based on what the writers put together. For me, it's been about knowing that a guy can have flaws and do what he does so harshly, but with purpose. He's really trying to do better and help his rookies out.
What do you hear most from the audience and about your character? Fans love how dynamic our show is and how fast paced it is, and they talk about our great character development. Bradford and Chen [Melissa O'Neil] have stuck out in so many fans' minds as they watched episodes, this unexpected couple to have gotten together. It drives a lot of fun story. Our characters are so opposite and yet they made it work. They're on the outs, so I get asked by fans about why they broke up. They tell me that our characters are meant for each other. I love that on The Rookie we're exploring how these two individuals are going through so much. Tim has a lot of baggage and is having to really figure out his past in order to love himself before he can get back into a relationship that's healthy, It's something that's super important to explore. Fans ask a lot about the breakup and a lot about Tim and Lucy. They love the rollercoaster ride that our show brings every week.
What have you deeply valued in being part of The Rookie? It's a few things. I love my character so much. I love how complex he is, and how much I get to explore as an actor. I love coming to work every day because I love our cast and crew. We truly all get along like a family, and we have so much fun when we're working together. And one of the most important things of all, to be honest, because we would not be on the air, is our Rookie fandom. We have the best fans on the planet who are supporting our show every single day and all over social media. I truly don't think we'd be where we are if it weren't for our fans. I might want to bump our fans up to the top of the list!
As you reflect on six seasons, have there been any welcome changes or surprises in terms of where Tim would go, and how you'd set about taking him there? Tim was on such a path towards, what seemed to be, living his best life and being so happy in his relationship. The truth is that Tim kept sweeping his past under the rug, he never addressed a lot of the issues he had as a child, or what happened to him in the military and his PTSD from it. As I reflect, I love the changes in Tim's character, and how he was brought down from a happy place. He was not living a life filled with how much he cared about Lucy, he was living a lie and living his past. I welcomed diving in and exploring what that's really like; how someone can get their life back on track from from a place like that, and then try to change as a person. I'd like to see Tim growing and maturing, whether through therapy or help, and really solving some of his personal issues, not letting them get swept under the rug, but really addressing them.
There's a duality to Tim. When is it that Tim tends to soften? There's no question, Tim softens around Lucy. I think he softens around people he loves. Outside of work, he softens around his friends. Tim is very hard on the outside, even with his tone, and when it comes to his police work, because he truly believes in his style of training. He wants people to be field-tested, pushed to the limit, made sure they understand the risks and the dangers out in the streets. It's not all simulations and training. You have to be in the streets to know what's really going on. You can only be trained so much...you've got to live it. I think that's why he really tries to push the training even harder. When he's around his friends, he's able to open up a little bit. He still has walls, but Lucy did a great job of softening him and helping him find love again. He accumulated more baggage and trauma from the relationship with his ex-wife. He definitely softens most around Lucy.
This season, Tim's past interferes with his present. What are the factors that drive Tim's choices both this season and also typically for him? His past interferes in season six, and the factors are always his loyalty towards the people he cares about, and his job. He makes mistakes, clearly, but he's always driven by loyalty and love for the people around him. It's how he is in his personal life, with his sister, with his mom. Lucy, the people he now cares about at work, Lopez [Alyssa Diaz], friends---they're what drive him to try to get past a lot of his bad choices. Those bad choices are things he's got to address, and are based on what he thought was for the best even though they might have been the wrong to do at the time, legally. He was doing what he thought was the right for the people around him who he cares about.
By the end of this last season, where do you think we find Tim both professionally and personally? We find Tim in a place of rebuilding his truth and trying to be happy in an honest way, in a real way. He's trying to build himself back up, he wants to do right, and to make his relationship right with Lucy. He wants to earn her trust back and prove his loyalty. She deserves it. He wants to prove himself as a friend and potentially as a partner. Professionally, Tim's trying to build back his reputation and also show how how good he is as an officer and how much he respects the job.
