Tru Valentino Talks About His Comedy Career And Series Regular Role On ABC’s ‘The Rookie’

Definitely a breakout star!

From comedian, to actor, to voice actor, Tru Valentino can truly do it all. Currently, we can watch him take charge as Officer Aaron Thorson in the popular ABC series ‘The Rookie’.

We had the amazing honor of talking with Tru about have self awareness, the importance of talent, and more1

What was your journey of breaking into the entertainment industry? 

T: “It’s been quite the journey, but here are the spark notes: I moved out to LA in 2015 with no real plan or direction, I was sleeping on this guy’s couch in North Hollywood that I met briefly on Roomster.com. I spent most of my time in my car, so much so people thought I lived in it (pretty much) – but joining the improv community here in LA really helped me find my way to The Groundlings in 2016, and in 2018 I was seen by my now reps. And really from there it was just a lot of auditioning and then finally started booking commercials, V.O gigs and eventually landing The Rookie in 2021!”

What do you love most about comedy and improv? 

T: “As a kid I was also the goofy class clown so naturally as an adult improv gives me an outlet to harness those powers in a more controlled space that doesn’t result in me having my desk put into the hallway or my parents being called by my 5th grade homeroom teacher.”

What was one of your favorite experiences on ‘The Rookie’?

T: “This didn’t happen on The Rookie per say but it involves the Rookie universe, it’s when some of my cast mates came out to one of my Sunday Company Groundlings’ shows. That was a really cool moment to have them all there and it also happened to be a really great show that night!”

Who do you most look up to and why? 

T: “I look up to anyone that is better than me in any facet, I’m always trying to hone my craft, so when I get around people that are at the top of their game it motivates and challenges me to want to get better.”

What is the first thing you do to research and approach a role?

T: “I honestly don’t have a specific approach, I’m still fairly new to acting so I haven’t yet developed my method of how to approach a character. But as of right now I just dive into them and try to commit as much as I can, in terms of just trying to be genuine with my take on a specific character.”

What do you feel is most important for an actor: talent or training? 

T: “I think for me talent is most important, because if you have it, even if it is raw or unrefined, you can mold it into something really great with time and practice, but to simply just have a background in acting, but no raw talent at all,  then you’ll just have a degree and not the ability necessary to put that degree to good use, in my opinion.”

What advice would you give to aspiring actors?

T: “My advice would be to really be able to evaluate yourself unbiasedly and try to have laser-like self awareness. You have to be honest with yourself in regards to what you’re good at, not good at and if this line of work is truly something you’re good at, as opposed to you just loving acting and or have been told by friends and family members that you’re “good” lol. And also you gotta love doing this because it is gonna consume a lot of your life so you had better really want to do this!”

Where can we follow your amazing journey?

T: “You can follow me on my Instagram tru_valentino I don’t post all the time but it is the only place I post, so there’s that.”

Watch Tru shine on ‘The Rookie’ on ABC!

Ananya Vinay– Movie/Entertainment Reporter- Ananya Vinay is a rising high school senior from Fresno, California. She is a budding scientist who enjoys exploring the whys of the world. Ananya also loves writing in all forms, especially poetry. When she’s not writing, you can find her with her nose in a book, inventing stories, or sometimes arguing with her younger brother.  Ananya won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2017. She is the author of a poetry collection, Dewdrops on the Mind, and has work published or forthcoming in the Ice Lolly Review, Apprentice Writer, and Teen Ink. She is a passionate teacher and believes in using education as a tool for equity.