Romance, runaways, community & babies...we dig deeper into Virgin River with actress Sarah Dugdale!
Virgin River season 6 premiered on December 19, 2024 on Netflix. Thrilling, heartwarming, tear-jerking, and wholesome all but sum-up this romantic series. Filmed in Vancouver with the beautiful backdrop of the Canadian mountains and river, the quaint and modest town known as Virgin River has been home for Virgin River series lead character, Nurse Practitioner Melinda (Alexandra Breckenridge) for 6 seasons now. Through an abundance of obstacles like old relationship issues, grief and more, finally in season 6, Melinda and her beau, bar owner and local hometown ex-marine Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson) are ready to tie the knot.
Both seasoned and well established, the wedding for these lovebirds was set to go off without a hitch!
HOWEVER…drama, family issues, and old traumas unfolded throughout the season leading up to some shocking declarations, tear filled moments, and a not just one, but three cliffhangers! Virgin River is a binge worthy and entertaining series, which arrived just in time for the holidays!
As the bond and love between Jack and Mel became even more solidified, some of the shows other key characters started experiencing new love, young love, and love again for the second time around.
One of the seasons highlights has been witnessing Lizzie (played by Sarah Dugdale), the former rebellious young teen from California who stormed into the town of Virgin River in season 2 and turned things in this quaint little town upside down begin to experience some interesting character development. Lizzie has now started to develop into more of an ambitious, reliable, and accountable young women.
In the season 5, Lizzie worked as Hope’s assistant, formed a new and healthy relationship with Doc’s grandson Denny, and found out that her and Denny will be expecting a child soon (the shocking reveal was confirmed at the end of season 5).
Scenes In Color caught up with actress Sarah Dugdale to talk all things Lizzie, season 6 of Virgin River and beyond, and what community means!
In our interview, Sarah Dugdale expressed, “since Lizzie showed up she’s had such a big journey since season 2, being this brass teenager who didn’t really care about anyone outside of herself and then really growing to love this community and wanting to be apart of it. Her leaning on them and then at this point Hope being able to lean on Lizzie. I feel like Lizzie is becoming like a mini Hope! Which I Love! Annette is so wonderful and does an amazing job playing Hope. Being able to watch her and feed off of what she’s done all of these seasons...Lizzie being mentored by this woman and seeing Lizzie coming into her own strength is something I've loved to play and I just think the world of Annette”.
Scenes In Color: Season 6 is for sure is a tearjerker, but in a good way. Do you have a favorite scene from this current season?
Sarah: In season 6 episode 8, there’s a scene that we shot under this beautiful cherry blossom tree… When Lizzie and Denny finally have those hard conversations that matter. I enjoyed diving deeper into the situation that Denny and Lizzie are in, getting to let loose, it was a really beautiful process. I had a great time shooting it with Kai (Denny) and Martin Henderson directing.
When talking about the future, season 6 opened the door for an abundance of unforeseen drama involving babies, runaways, betrayals, and romance for a multitude of characters!
When asked about the future for Lizzie, Dugdale stated, I’d love to see Lizzie’s mom comeback and see what that dynamic would be like since a lot has changed in Lizzie’s life….I’d love to see Lizzie continue to pursue her goals and passion outside of motherhood and her relationship with Denny. Overall, I’m happy to see how Lizzie deals with the arrival of the baby (hopefully) and how the community lifts them up and supports them, but on a lighter note, I’m also hoping that it’s not a 5 season pregnancy like Charamine’s…FINGERS CROSSED FOR THAT!
Virgin River has gathered a huge fandom following in its 6 season run. The series is currently sitting at #1 on Netflix within only days of premiering. Netflix announced on December 5th that the series had been renewed for a 7th season. This already highly anticipated season has fans excited and looking forward to what will surely be even more thrilling and heartfelt episodes of Virgin River!
When speaking about the fans, Sarah Dugdale expressed her gratitude.
“I’m so grateful for all of the love that they’ve shown the show, we have such a great time making it and the fact that people have found community throughout the show is a beautiful thing. A show that really brings people together….it’s cool to run into people in the street who say that they get together or watch it with their families. Seeing the communities and love online…people making friendships online because of the show is so cool. The show is hopeful and loving and that’s the community that has really latched on to it”.
- Sarah Dugdale
Season 7 of Virgin River is set to pick up only hours after the season 6 finale!