“Brady’s between a rock and a hard place again…”

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The holidays aren’t the same without an annual trip to the cozy but action-packed town of Virgin River. The hit Netflix series has often premiered leading up to Christmas, however fans will have to wait until early 2026 for season seven to make its debut. Luckily for us, the stars are gracing us with charming appearances in Christmas movies, like Alexandra Breckinridge (who plays Mel) in My Secret Santa and Benjamin Hollingsworth in The Christmas Ring, in which he stars as an antiques dealer who finds romance while helping a military widow find a lost heirloom ring. But if the actors’ film appearances aren’t enough to tide Virgin River fans over until the series returns, fear not – Benjamin’s giving us the scoop on what to expect in season seven!

Virgin River became the most streamed and longest-running series on Netflix. How blown away are you by the show’s success? I never in a million years thought this show would be so well-received and have such a huge following. If I were to guess why, it’s because it’s about community and that’s one thing we’re losing touch with in our society. We have a better relationship with people on the Internet who are strangers than we often do with neighbors and this show is a throwback to that time when it was the opposite – our close relationships were with people we experienced life with day in and day out.

I think that’s something people are longing for and a reminder of yesteryear, where your community stood up for one another like they do in this iconic, idyllic, picturesque town that everyone wants to live in. It’s like a warm cup of coffee. I always say it’s ‘apple pie entertainment,’ because everyone can love it. It’s nothing new, but who doesn’t want a good apple pie?

Those are also the kind of small towns in the holiday movies we love and that you continue to star in… Yes!

It’s still a few months away, but what can you tease about the upcoming seventh season? Brady’s between a rock and a hard place again, having just lost all his money after Lark, his girlfriend, overheard him professing his love to Brie, his true love. He’s got to navigate finding his money again, navigate the fallout of the relationship and navigate this new reality between Brie and Mike and whatever happens with [Mike’s proposal]. I can’t say whether they get married, but it was an interesting choice – the plastic bottle cap for an engagement ring!

Courtesy of Netflix

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It seemed like Brady was finally on a better path and then all this happens, so it’s a lot to navigate… I continue to root for him. I’m his biggest advocate. I love him, so I’m always rooting for him to find happiness. But we’ll find out in season seven if he finds that happiness or not!

With Brady and Brie, that chemistry is always bubbling away. It’s undeniable! What do you think drives that undying love that seems to be there? One of the great parts about being an actor is you never know who you’ll have chemistry with and what scene partner may take off. From day one, Zibby Allen, who plays Brie, and I had this great communication and understanding of our characters, our scenes and what we wanted to do with them. We were like partners in crime from day one, so we were careful to craft performances that arced over time and ensured their journey together was complex and faulted. They’re like star-crossed lovers, so we wanted to play into that Romeo and Juliet-esque vibe.

Have you finished filming the season? Season seven has wrapped and season eight will be starting in the spring.

You have three kids (Hemingway, nine, Gatsby, seven, and Juniper, five) with your wife Nila. How have you been juggling family life with Virgin River’s amazing success? I try and take my family anywhere that I film. There are some exceptions, like if the location or timing is tough, but for the most part, I bring them with me, so filming Virgin River hasn’t been too different to anything else.

Are your children starting to show more of their personalities as they get older? They’re so unique, but they’re also very similar. It’s interesting because you can tell they’re siblings, but they’re so different and each requires a different type of love. People talk about how everyone has their own love language and it’s the same with kids. One responds more to hugs and kisses and the other responds more to verbal praise. One’s a sleeper and one’s not a sleeper. They all have their own things, which makes it great. That’s kind of a reason to have more than one kid because if they’re all the same, then what’s the point! They’re different and unique, which I love.