Virgin River hasn’t faced just cast exits over the years – but characters being recast as well.
Based on Robyn Carr’s book series, Virgin River follows the lives of residents living in a small town in Northern California, including Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson). The hit series, which premiered in 2019, also stars Colin Lawrence, Annette O’Toole, Tim Matheson, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Sarah Dugdale, Zibby Allen, Marco Grazzini, Mark Ghanimé and Kai Bradbury.
After many ups and downs — including a miscarriage in season 5 — Jack and Mel finally ended season 6 as husband and wife. Elsewhere, exes Brie (Allen) and Brady (Hollingsworth) slept together before Brie told her boyfriend, Mike (Grazzini), about her affair with Brady, which made him propose to her.
Virgin River became Netflix’s longest-running scripted series, which meant there have been shakeups on screen. Mel and Jake’s dog, Pony, went through more than one recasting after being introduced in the Christmas special.
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“It turned out Pony wasn’t as prepared for the role before we cast Pony. And I say again, respectfully to the animal wranglers, they had the best of intentions. Pony, I think, was maybe borderline feral when he started on set, and we learned that the hard way,” showrunner Patrick Sean Smith told Deadline in 2024. “Martin and Alex were troopers, I actually sent an email to production with a subject line in a reference to an 80s song where it said, ‘Pony, Pony, Pony has done it again.’”
He continued: “Pony was completely out of control, so we pulled Pony from the scene. And I think we were feeling kind of less our best of intentions and more Pony’s got to go back to acting school.”
Smith confirmed a third dog will likely take over the role. “I’m hoping we’ll find a lookalike that’s prepared for what the role demands,” he said. “Alex and Martin were just — they had the clickers, they were acting, we were throwing babies at them and everything, they signed up for a lot.”
Keep scrolling for every Virgin River character that was recast:
Wes
Season 2 introduced Steve Bacic as Wes a.k.a Paige’s estranged abusive husband. He continued to play the role — plus Wes’ twin brother Vince — until season 5 but eagle-eyed fans may remember that Michael Shanks also portrayed Wes in season 1.
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Calvin
From seasons 1 to 4, David Cubitt played the man responsible for the illegal pot farm on the other side of Virgin River. Josh Blacker returned in the role in season 6 when Calvin was revealed as the father of Charmaine’s twins.
Pony
The season 5 Christmas special introduced Pony as Mel and Jack’s new puppy. After a time jump, the role was recast one season later with a lab named Frankie. Pony was largely absent from most of season 5, with showrunner Patrick Sean Smith confirming another dog change in season 7.
