From Guns to Ghosts, Melissa O’Neil Says Her Character on THE ROOKIE is Maintaining Her Sunny Sense of Self

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Police Officer Lucy Chen, played by Canadian Melissa O’Neil, gets the eerie feeling that her apartment building might be haunted in a new Halloween-themed episode of THE ROOKIE, Sunday, Oct. 31 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV. So let’s get this straight: This is the fourth season of THE ROOKIE, and Lucy has been in a lot of scary situations. But after everything that has happened, the thing that is really going to make her shiver is the thought that there might be a ghost? “The ‘reveal’ happens rather quickly,” O’Neil promised. “And it is quite a bit more nefarious than that. But Lucy handles it – as she does.” THE ROOKIE continues to star Nathan Fillion in the title role as a man who was at a personal crossroads when he decided to become a police officer much later in life than most would choose to do so. But more and more through the seasons, THE ROOKIE has become a true ensemble show, and the chemistry is obvious, particularly when Fillion, O’Neil, and Eric Winter (as Tim Bradford) have scenes together. “It’s really cool that you notice it, because we really feel it, and it’s part of what makes coming to work every day such a joy,” O’Neil said in a virtual interview. “When I think about how much has happened in my personal life, and then I look at our show and the family we’ve built here, it blows my mind, because there is still the same type of excitement when we’re on set together. I’ve been told by my other actor friends that other shows are different. After a period of time it gets a little old-hat, and there’s disillusion between cast members, stuff like that. But with our show, it always still feels like the first day … well, maybe not the first day, but like, two weeks in, where we’re all really liking each other, and saying, ‘This is fun!’ ” Of course, THE ROOKIE is about police officers in Los Angeles, so often the plot circumstances aren’t particularly fun for the characters. O’Neil was asked if playing Lucy in what can be categorized as a long-running show has given her any insights into the world of policing that she might not have considered before she took on the role. “Yeah, I hadn’t considered the infrastructure around policing, there are so many different layers, as in their unions, the internal hierarchy, the code, the way things are done, what’s socially acceptable within the community,” O’Neil said. “You can have a single police officer who is really aligned with their morals and wants to do the right thing. But then, of course, what is the right thing? And on top of that, you can take that to your superiors, but then they have their own ideas about it. There’s also the judicial system, and how that either supports, or doesn’t support, the right action, whatever that is. So it reminds me of fractals. You can zoom in, you can zoom out, and there are just endless details to explore.” What’s notable about the Lucy character, however, is that she has somehow maintained her sunny outlook. It’s subtle at times, as she has faced things that would weigh down anyone. But Lucy is still more romantic than cynical, and she gives the impression that even if she sometimes isn’t sure where she stands professionally, she always has a firm grasp on who she is personally, if that makes any sense. “Yeah, it makes sense – and you could be talking about me in that moment, too,” O’Neil said. “Lucy has absolutely gone through the wringer. She had to persevere through two parental units who weren’t in support of the path she was carving out for herself. I don’t have a direct parallel to that, but I feel a different kind of resonance. And I believe it requires a certain strength of character, a fortitude, a belief in oneself. I think Lucy is really good at that. So, you know, yeah, that’s a nice reflection. I hadn’t heard that before. But I definitely feel the same way. She is an eternal optimist.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv