Two actors will not be returning to Virgin River for the eighth season of Netflix’s longest-running drama series.
On Thursday, the same day that season seven premiered on the streaming platform, Netflix confirmed that longtime cast members Marco Grazzini and Lauren Hammersley will depart the show after its current season.
Grazzini has been on the series for five seasons and appeared in the last four as a series regular. This season, his local police officer character Mike Valenzuela embarks on a mission with his love interest, Brie (Zibby Allen), to find missing woman Charmaine, who is played by Hammersley.
Hammersley — who previously played a love interest to Martin Henderson’s lead character Jack — was an original Virgin River cast member from its launch in 2019 through season four. Playing a woman who was pregnant for five seasons of the show, Hammersley was a recurring player in her final two seasons, and only appeared in two episodes in the new 10-episode installment.
Although the two actors are leaving the series, showrunner Patrick Sean Smith told Deadline that fans might still see the characters return in the future. Neither one of the actors has commented publicly on the casting news.
“For me, I’m just trying to look to the longevity of the show and making sure that the characters that we’re keeping have enough story engine in them to keep going,” Smith told Deadline. “So I can’t say there are any specific cast shakeups planned, but I think we will have to start to — as characters run their course — make some decisions and bring in some new blood.”
Smith said Grazzini’s character ended his time on the show with a happy ending, as the season seven finale showed him cozying up with new character Victoria, played by Sara Canning.
The showrunner said: “Mike probably will be on the back burner for a little while until we have something we’ve written. We have so many relationships already that I think a little bit of that was just a sort of happy ending for this chapter for Mike to find his way back to Victoria and to explore what happens there. But I love Marco and could see his character coming back in a more substantive role if the creative is right.”
Smith also said goodbye to Hammersley’s character, who was known for being involved in season finale plot twists.
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“No plans for Charmaine to be back in Season 8 but that’s not to say, when the right time comes, I’d love to bring the character back for something other than more cliffhangers and more lies on pregnancies,” he said.
The show, which stars Henderson and actor Alexandra Breckenridge, has largely kept most cast members from early seasons, with notable exits from regulars including Grayson Gurnsey, leaving after season four, and Mark Ghanimé exiting after season six.
