Actor Eric Winter stars as Tim Bradford on the ABC drama, The Rookie.
Eric opened up about his journey to acting in an episode of the I’ve Never Said This Before podcast.
Fans reacted to Eric revealing the true reason why he almost quit acting.
Eric Winter may have a thriving acting career now, but years ago, he made a decision that could have taken his life in an entirely different direction.
Over the last decade, fans of The Rookie have gotten to know the actor for his portrayal of Tim Bradford. Plus, Eric has had multiple roles over the years in shows including Wildfire, The Good Doctor, and others.
So it might surprise you to learn that acting wasn’t always part of his plan. In fact, his struggle to make it on TV almost made him take a totally different path.
As Eric shared during a recent episode of the podcast I’ve Never Said This Before With Tommy DiDario, he once considered quitting acting entirely to pursue a career as a first responder.
“I was very close to being a paramedic,” he explained in a clip posted on Instagram on February 20. “I wasn’t gonna be an actor. This was a very crazy change of path for me, and I was probably one step away from being brought into the fire academy … I was EMT-certified, went through all my training, every single test, and I had quit acting for a while.”
He explained that his agent wanted him to audition for the character Rex Brady on the hit series Days of Our Lives. Ultimately, that decision would change his life forever, in more ways than he even expected.
“I got a call from my agent—‘They wanna see you for this soap opera,’” he said on the podcast. “I was like, ‘I’m not gonna do a soap.’ But I decided to do a soap … and a week later, after I agreed to do the soap, the fire department called me and said, ‘We want you to join the academy.’
“I wanted to be a doctor my whole life, and I was pre-med at UCLA,” he continued. “So, my goal was always to do that. So, I probably shouldn’t be doing this right now … but I just play a fake [first responder] on TV.”
When fans learned of Eric’s acting journey, they showed their support.
“He is perfect for Tim Bradford's character. ❤️❤️🔥🔥😍😍,” one person wrote in the comments.
“This is such a great story 👏👏,” another agreed.
“The rejection is understandable but glad he never gave up,” a different follower added.
Knowing more about his background makes us even more glad that we get to watch Eric on our TVs every week.
