Nathan Fillion on Nolan’s Confession to Harper, Relationship With Bailey, ‘Superman,’ More

Talk about being stuck between a cop and a hard place!

The Rookie‘s John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) found himself in a no-win situation this week as the LAPD dealt with the fallout from last week’s drive-by shooting that left Harper’s husband James (Arjay Smith) and community-center volunteer Kylie (Maria Zhang) clinging to life. (Fortunately, both survive.) With the cops scrambling to find the shooter — a local gang member named Connor (Levi Meaden) — Nolan was forced to reveal that he’d spotted James and Kylie in a clinch shortly before the crime, despite the fact that the information would have a two-fold impact: First, it meant telling his former T.O. and beloved colleague an awful truth about her marriage, and secondly, it could cast serious suspicion onto the devastated Nyla (the tremendous Mekia Cox), who had arrested Connor 18 months earlier. Had she perhaps hired him to take out her unfaithful husband out of jealousy?

“It really was breaking Nolan’s heart to have to be the one just to hurt Nyla in any way, shape or form,” Fillion told us in our Booked: The Rookie Aftershow. “And yet he’s honor-bound. He has to say something in that situation.”

Disney/Mike Taing

Finding a minor shortcut, Nolan instead informed Sgt. Grey (Richard T. Jones), Wes (Shawn Ashmore) and Angela (Alyssa Diaz) of the kiss, which Grey then let Harper know about without revealing his source. Eventually, however, Nolan came clean with her…not just about being the one who reported the situation but also about his immense respect and love for her. It was a beautiful scene that served as a testament to the long history these two have shared since Nyla joined the Mid-Wilshire Division in Season 2 as Nolan’s very brusque training officer.

“I think I added a bit or two to that [scene] just to make sure we are covering all the bases of how important she has become to him,” noted Fillion of the moment, in which Nolan emotionally reveals that she had become “in no small way, my hero,” with a list of assets that can clearly be applied to both the character and actress. “I mean, let’s not forget, first of all, Mekia Cox…what an incredibly talented young woman playing that part of Nyla Harper. Let’s not forget how terribly antagonistic that relationship was when she first arrived on our show. How angry and cut off she was, how guarded she was and, over time, what a journey she has made, what an arc she has created.”

And Cox is not the only costar the so-gracious Fillion is gushing over. Watch the full aftershow with Fillion above as he discusses two of his other leading ladies, how this is the best job he’s ever had, and why he is so “super” excited about his upcoming role as Green Lantern Guy Gardner in this summer’s Superman. It’s basically heroes all around with this one!