Virgin River is back on our screens, breaking records and, in Benjamin Hollingsworth‘s character Dan Brady’s case, breaking hearts. With the seventh season currently airing on Netflix, the show has already been renewed for an eighth season, officially making it the longest-running live-action English-language drama in Netflix history. We caught up with Hollingsworth to have a (spoiler-free) chat about season seven, the appeal of the not-so-sleepy town of Virgin River and what’s next for Brady.
Brady’s had a rough couple of seasons and most recently, a love triangle. What can we expect for this next season?
I think the love triangle will have fewer right angles this season. There might be some other love triangles on the show, but I have a feeling there’s going to be a bit of character growth this season for everyone who was involved in this one. I can’t tell you who she ends up with or if she ends up with anyone, but it’s something that I think is earned throughout the season.
Obviously Brady starts out as a bit of a villain, but a complicated one, with lots of depth. What has it been like playing his character arc over these past few years?
That’s one of the reasons that I signed on for this role; it has some depth to it, he wasn’t a surface character. That’s one thing I try and look for whenever an offer comes in: is there room for me to grow the character into something that people relate to? I think the reason why people gravitate towards Brady, the reason why he’s a character that people love on the show, is he is always battling to be the better version of himself. I think that’s something we all kind of struggle with; it’s a very universal feeling. All of us have something we’re working on, and so it’s that internal struggle of success and failure. Of course, we all fail, and we all have moments we’re not proud of. And I think when we see a character go through that it’s very relatable.
Did you anticipate Virgin River becoming the hit it is now when you originally signed on?
To be honest, I thought it was going to be a one [season] and done; a lot of people did on the show. I didn’t realize that it was going to have the connection with audiences that it did. We shot it before the pandemic and and then the pandemic hit, and it was released kind of at the perfect time, because a lot of people at home were looking for an escape from the craziness that was happening in the world at the time. And this little quaint show that was about community and people sticking together and knowing your neighbours, and it was the perfect medicine that I think society needed at the time. Luckily, we’ve been able to retain our audience, and people kept coming back, I think, for that same reason; that it’s about community. Unfortunately, because of social media and because we’re all glued to our phones all the time, that has become more and more scarce.
FAST FACTS
Name: Benjamin Hollingsworth
Acting chops: Attended National Theatre School in Montreal
Toronto lore: Lived in a house on Mutual Street that was built on the foundation of the original Maple Leafs arena
Biggest weakness: Huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan (“An unhealthy amount.”)
And the show’s popularity meant that you got to come back to Canada from L.A. and live here for a while.
That was a big reason why I took the job, to be honest. I had just finished Code Black, and I was screen testing for a lot of big TV series, and this offer came in, and it’s for this small show shooting in Vancouver. At the time, I had two little boys, and I loved the idea of raising them for what I thought would at least be one year up in Canada. My mom lives up and here and my sister, so they’d be around family, and I thought that would be awesome. I’m a proud Canadian, and I love bringing my kids up here and having the same ideals and strong morals, and a safe place to raise them. And then it turned into this eight-year thing that I’m just so grateful for. Because consistency is one of the trickiest things as an actor, and to give consistency to your children is probably the greatest gift.
How did you originally make your way down to L.A.?
I had done a few guest stars on the quintessential Canadian shows, like Degrassi and Heartland, and then I did a horrible movie that was shot in Montreal and I took the money from that and booked a trip down to L.A. I was very fortunate; I met with my entertainment lawyer, who I still have today, Howard Fishman — he reps Julia Roberts and people much cooler than me. Then I signed with Shelley Browning, who is Rachel McAdams‘ manager, so I was really fortunate to get good representation. That was three weeks, then I came back to Canada and started doing self-tapes. I sent one away for a movie with David Duchovny and Amber Heard called The Joneses, and I got the part and suddenly had five days to figure out all my immigration stuff.
There was a moment there, where like it looked like the whole thing was not going to happen because the visa was going to take too long. I feel like that’s a very common struggle for a lot of young actors.They’ll catch a break in the U.S., but they also need to catch a break with the immigration system. I can only imagine it’s even trickier now.
Was that when you felt you could really make a career out of this?
I was actually 17 when I felt that; I was touring a theatre production all over Ontario called Frozen Dreams, around this whole idea of Ed Mirvish giving out frozen turkeys around Christmas to homeless people, and really how helpful is a frozen turkey to someone on the street? My character had Down syndrome and he gets this turkey while he’s being kind of looked after on the streets by these two other guys, and it was actually a funny play. I did over 100 performances of it, and it was one of the things that helped get me into the National Theatre School. They get 1,600 applicants globally every year, and they take 12 actors.
It was about a year and a half out of theatre school that I started to see success, and then I’ve been very fortunate between Code Black and Virgin River and a number of movies along the way, that I’ve been able to stay working.
Before we go, three words to describe the new season of Virgin River?
Growth, reflection and new beginnings.
