EXCLUSIVE: Netflix‘s popular romantic drama Virgin River has cast Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries) and Cody Kearsley (Riverdale) in recurring roles for the upcoming seventh season, which has begun production, with Deadline able to share two behind the scenes images from the set in Vancouver featuring most main cast members, including stars Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson (You can see them below). The new season, which will pick up two hours after the end of the Season 6 finale at Mel (Breckenridge) and Jack’s (Henderson) wedding, is expected to premiere in early 2026.

Canadian actors Canning and Kearsley will play characters related to an existing and new storyline, respectively, on the series based on Robyn Carr’s novels about the tight-knit community in the remote California town of Virgin River.

Canning’s Victoria is an ex-cop who was shot in the line of duty and is now working for the state medical board as an investigator. She comes to Virgin River to investigate Doc’s practice but runs into a friend whom she wouldn’t mind catching up with…or maybe more.

As series showrunner Patrick Sean Smith confirmed to Deadline in December, the fight for Virgin River’s clinic will be a major storyline in Season 7, with the investigation into Doc’s actions while saving a patient as a ploy for the clinic to be taken over by a large hospital network.

“There’s an overarching theme for Season 7 of the outside encroaching into Virgin River,” he said.

As for that friend with potential benefits that Victoria will be reconnecting with, their common police background would make Mike (Marco Grazzini) a natural possibility depending how that Season 6 finale cliffhanger proposal to Brie (Zibby Allen) pans out.

After introducing Doc (Tim Matheson) to a grandson he didn’t know existed and Mel (Breckenridge) finding the biological father she didn’t know she had, Virgin River will be looking to solve another family mystery next season tied to a new character, Clay.

Played by Kearsley, Clay is the kind of guy that gets noticed when he enters a room. He has experience working the rodeo circuit, so there’s also a tough athletic quality to him. He grew up in the foster care system with his younger sister, whom he hasn’t seen since he was a teenager. He’s been looking for her ever since.

Virgin River‘s returning main cast Includes Breckenridge, Henderson, Tim Matheson, Annette O’Toole, Colin Lawrence, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Allen, Sarah Dugdale, Grazzini, Kai Bradbury and Kandyse McClure. As Deadline reported in December, Mark Ghanimé will no longer be a series regular.

Smith returns as Virgin River showrunner and executive producer. Additional executive producers include Sue Tenney, Amy Palmer Robertson, Roma Roth, Christopher E. Perry, Carr, Erin Cardillo, Richard Keith and Jennifer Monroe. Ian Hay, Thomas Ian Griffith, Mary Page Keller and Jackson Sinder co-executive produce.

Canning’s credits include The Vampire Diaries, War for the Planet of the Apes, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Remedy, a series for which she won UBCP/ACTRA and Leo Awards. She was also nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for her work in the web series Hospital Show. Her recent film work includes Sweetland and Dark Match.

Known for roles in the CW’s Riverdale, Netflix’s Daybreak, Guilty Party at Paramount+ and Shadow of the Rougarou (APTN), Kearsley serves as a producer and production coordinator for the Crazy 8s Film Society. His debut short film Breathe won Best First-Time Director at the Brussels Capital Film Festival, Vancouver International ShortFest, and Best Short Film at the Titan Film Festival in Sydney.