So much love! The cast of Virgin River is used to drama on camera, but off screen the actors have a close bond — and lots of fun filming their Netflix show.
Fans were introduced to midwife and nurse practitioner Melinda “Mel” Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge) in 2019 when she relocated to the small town of Virgin River, California, to give her life a refresh.
Throughout seasons 1 to 4, Mel discovers that the sleepy town she thought he was moving to is actually full of twists and turns. At the heart of the drama is her relationship with local bar owner Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson).
While the twosome got engaged during season 4 of the show, which premiered in July 2022, their relationship has been anything but smooth. Mel’s pregnancy and the question of who the father is has been somewhat of a sore spot for the couple.
Season 5 of the show, which began filming in summer 2022, will hopefully put all the baby drama to rest as the duo prepare to become parents. (Mel previously thought that her late husband, Mark — played by Daniel Gillies — could be the father.)
As fans await the next chapter of the drama series, they can take a look back at the cast’s best moments behind-the-scenes. In fact, many of the show’s stars, including Henderson and Breckenridge often post pictures from set dating back to season 1.
The cast’s bond has become more apparat as the seasons have continued and Ben Hollingsworth, who plays Dan Brady, couldn’t help but gush over his Virgin River “family” in July 2022.
“That sense of community is what I think makes this show so great. It really does feel like the small town where everyone has each other’s back,” the Under the Olive Tree actor told Cosmopolitan U.K. ahead of filming season 5. “We’re like that when we get on set. When we shot season 4, we were in the middle of still the thick of the pandemic. We weren’t able to actually hang out on set as much as we’d like. We’re so tight that even the pandemic couldn’t keep us apart.”
Jenny Cooper, who plays Joey Barnes, agreed with her castmate but noted that the actors don’t always see each other a ton once they leave the Canadian shooting location.
“We hang out there. The days are so long that you really do get to know each other,” she told the outlet. “Then when the day is over we kind of have to get back to our lives.”
Colin Lawrence, for his part, revealed that some of the sweetest moments on set involve dance breaks.
“When you work with Alex, she always likes to have a dance party,” Lawrence, who plays John “Preacher” Middleton, said of Breckenridge. “Between takes … you’ll hear this music turn up and you’ll turn around and you’ll see Alex breaking out into a little dance. We love having a good time dancing.”
Scroll down to see some of the Virgin River cast’s coolest behind-the-scenes moments over the years: