The place Is Virgin River Filmed? Each Main Location Defined

It is nearly laborious to consider that “Virgin River” is among the many longest-running sequence on Netflix, having aired six seasons and been renewed for a seventh, which is probably going arriving someday later this calendar 12 months. However whereas it is probably not the flashiest present that the famed streamer airs, “Virgin River” is a stalwart romantic drama, tailored from the novels by writer Robyn Carr. It presents followers loads of soap-opera-style drama, centered on an enormous ensemble past main woman Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge) and her now-husband Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson). From the beginning, the sequence has had loads of storylines separate from how Mel and Jack meet and fall in love. However even when the subplots themselves do not at all times hit dwelling, “Virgin River” is nothing in need of a feast for the eyes in the case of the present’s places.

In case you’ve watched each episode, you realize that this present likes to throw in hypnotically compelling interstitial and establishing pictures of the mountainous vistas purportedly of the eponymous Northern California city the place the story takes place. Carr has already confirmed that the namesake city is not actual, however that does not imply that followers of the present cannot think about it to be so. Extra importantly, it does not imply that followers cannot attempt to flock to the locations the place this Netflix drama is filmed. 

However there’s an attention-grabbing twist right here when you’re an American fan of the sequence. It isn’t simply that Virgin River is not a actual place, or that you just’d have to go up north to search out its places. If you wish to go to the places the place this present is filmed, you’d higher have your passport. Let’s dig in.

The preliminary story setup for “Virgin River” was pretty easy, as Mel fled the massive metropolis of Los Angeles to the eponymous small city in Northern California — partially to flee previous demons and trauma and partially to start out a brand new job as a nurse practitioner for the gruff native Doc (Tim Matheson). As soon as on the town, Mel steadily falls not just for Jack, an enthralling however haunted Iraq Conflict veteran with a couple of skeletons in his closet, however for the city itself, as personified by Doc, his delightfully meddlesome spouse and city mayor Hope (Annette O’Toole), Jack’s dependable pal Preacher (Colin Lawrence), and a bunch of different colourful characters. Over the course of six seasons, Mel has gone from being new on the town to Jack’s devoted however fiercely unbiased spouse, whereas Jack continues to have a tendency bar, Doc grapples with getting older out of being a health care provider, and different twists and turns inevitably come down the pike. However one of the alluring elements of the present is its location. Every episode’s title sequence is a protracted, sluggish shot of some a part of the forests close to the eponymous city, and but, in actuality, it isn’t even a glimpse of the US.

That is proper — it isn’t simply that Virgin River is not actual. The present’s key setting is not even filmed in California, as lovely because the vistas might seem. In case you’re an eagle-eyed viewer of tv, you might have guessed as a lot concerning the present’s places based mostly on the variety of Canadian actors within the present’s ensemble, nevertheless it’s true: “Virgin River” is filmed completely in British Columbia, particularly within the Vancouver space. In fact, that is removed from the one title yow will discover filming on this a part of the world. The present’s location scout, W. Robert “Fluffy” Millar, has labored on loads of different productions, such because the “Fifty Shades of Gray” movie sequence, that additionally filmed in Vancouver. As a result of “Virgin River” is as a lot about its places as it’s concerning the individuals inside these locales, among the key settings — even these shot on soundstages or solely partially exterior — have been the supply of each marvel … and a little bit of pure terror.

When Millar spoke to Netflix’s Tudum web site concerning the location recognizing he and his group did he referred to as out a couple of key places, like Jack’s Bar, which serves as a central spot for many of the present’s solid. Although the outside of the bar is usually actual (it is acquired a unique identify, after all) and is situated “close to the most important focus of bald eagles on the earth,” Millar notes that the inside is shot on a soundstage and suggests a second ground to the constructing that does not exist in actual life. However for essentially the most impassioned followers of the present, sure, you may go to the bar so long as you put together your self for a unique identify. Head off to Brackendale, off the river in Squamish, British Columbia, and search for the Watershed Grill.

Any long-running present has common filming places, whether or not they’re on a soundstage or not, and “Virgin River” is not any completely different. One such location can be Mel’s cabin. Though the character finally moved in with Jack (maybe after an extended time period than some followers would have anticipated or appreciated), she has her personal cabin when the sequence begins. Whereas the inside, as Millar famous, is filmed on a soundstage, the manufacturing group went to the difficulty of getting expansive photographic backdrops serving as the outside backgrounds, guaranteeing that what the viewers sees seems an terrible lot like what is really exterior the home windows of the actual cabin that is glimpsed in exterior pictures. Nevertheless, when the present was filming its fifth season, Millar discovered that the District of North Vancouver had “obtained a heritage grant to refurbish the cabin, as a result of it is truly sinking.”

Followers of “Virgin River” know that the sequence has by no means been shy about utilizing Mom Nature as a plot level; a current story centered round a devastating rock slide, and there was additionally an in depth arc a few tragic and monstrous wildfire. However the present hasn’t but ventured into showcasing what occurs when or if one of many characters’ homes sinks into the bottom. Millar notes that the largest affect within the fifth season was that the manufacturing group merely could not movie on the cabinwhile town refurbished it to make sure its longevity. However pure logistics have are available the best way of some key scenes and sequences.

Millar additionally calls out a season-three episode of the present centered on the Lumberjack Video games, a big occasion meant to convey the city along with some enjoyable and energetic actions. Though the world the place the episode was filmed, Grouse Mountain, is a locale the place real-life video games like these (together with axe-throwing and log rolling) happen usually, the third season was being produced on the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the manufacturing group needed to depend upon the real-life group that places on these video games, whereas coping with a nasty windstorm and snow that tampered with their efforts to rigorously convey items of the set to the precise components of the mountain the place the episode was going to be filmed. It is clearly a tricky job filming a present like “Virgin River,” which depends so closely on an precise pure locale as a lot as indoor units.

The native parks and rivers of British Columbia have solely served so as to add to the visible depth and fantastic thing about “Virgin River.” Within the Tudum interview, Millar spotlights one other season 3 episode based mostly on the precise fantastic thing about considered one of its places. The episode finds Jack in a reasonably low place, and he is joined by his fellow ex-Marines for some outside adventures, together with an intense little bit of kayaking. There isn’t any inexperienced display right here; the scenes in query had been filmed close to a spot referred to as Home Rock, and Millar himself practically acquired misplaced within the closely forested space whereas making an attempt to scout particular spots the place the crew may movie. 

The quantity of distinctive, quaint, and lovely spots in British Columbia that the manufacturing group for “Virgin River” have leveraged throughout six seasons of drama and quiet introspection have helped the present stand out among the many many on Netflix. You could possibly simply go on an enormous journey to go to its many particular places, throughout parks, forests, and real-life small cities. Even for followers of the present who might not know the intensive ebook sequence properly, there’s one thing really fascinating and compelling about using actual exterior places, even supposing these places are nowhere close to the in-show setting of Northern California. It is a small worth to pay for the quantity of gorgeous pictures of the good outdoor, sufficient to make you perceive why Mel Monroe would eschew the quick tempo of Los Angeles in favor of small-town attraction. As “Virgin River” approaches its seventh season, we will hope that the brand new episodes will showcase new components of Vancouver (and that Netflix will not ever take away the present, as has occurred with different titles up to now), and provide us extra breathtaking pure magnificence.