After much anticipation, Virgin River Season 4 premiered on the Netflix platform on July 20 and it is currently topping viewers’ charts all over the world. According to Jenny Cooper, who plays Mel’s sister Joey, Virgin River Season 4 features relatable moments and relationship for everybody to see but with some incredible drama to add some spicy to the recipe!
We at Survived The Shows had the pleasure of chatting with Jenny Cooper about her character’s journey throughout the seasons of Virgin River and what’s next in Season 5. Check out full interview in the video below!
What is the main element of Joey’s character and the show in general that fascinates you the most and drew you to join Virgin River?
JENNY COOPER: Well, I mean the thing that fascinates me the most now is sort of how international it has become, the success and the fans that are watching from all over the world. It’s really it’s mindblowing and it really just shows you, you know, the outlet, I mean Netflix. How much, how far and wide reaching it really is. And also I think how relatable the story is that it really doesn’t matter what country you’re watching from or what age you are. There’s sort of something relatable, I think, for everyone, and that’s been really amazing to see.
Considering how Virgin River characters are always so believable and realistic, is there anything in Joey’s character that you see in yourself? Where are you two most similar and where different?
JC: Oh, so I think we’re similar in a lot of ways. We both have three kids. We haven’t met Joey’s kids yet, but I also have three kids, so I know what that’s like to try to juggle, you know, being a mom and having other responsibilities and other relationships and work and I also have a long-distance relationship with my sister, who I’m very close to.
So when I first read the scripts and there were all these scenes on the phone, even though I get a lot of feedback, that’s like ‘we’re tired of seeing you on the phone. Come to Virgin river’, I really relate to that because you pick up the phone and that’s your connector, and because your siblings and you have so much shared history, the phone kind of fades away, you know, and you’re like in the room there with each other.
And so I really relate to that because that’s the relationship I have with my own sister and I love that we’re able to do that. And I think that people are separated. A lot of siblings, you know, they make choices to go to school and faraway places. I’m just I’m going to try out this city for a while and then they stay and then you have this long-distance relationship with like the closest people in your life and and especially during the pandemic when people weren’t able to travel. And I think that that phone relationship is really it’s important.
What was the biggest challenge for you in playing her?
JC: The hardest part is obviously that she’s not there when I’m doing my end of the phone call, she’s not on the phone. So I’m doing it with just somebody reading the lines on set.
The first season it was someone very lovely who had sort of a heavy accent and it was a little hard to understand all the words and so that was a challenge. But you know Alex is such a unique presence and I have found in our scenes together that her take on the scene is always a little bit different than what I think it’s going to be, and that brings the scene this new life because that’s what I have to you know to to work with and she’s such an exciting actor to work with, so to have to imagine what that would be, and I’m almost always wrong.
So you’re playing 1/2 of the scene when you don’t really know what the other half is going to be, and then somehow it sort of works.
They cut it together and she always does it in a more interesting way than what I think it’s going to be. But it still always works. It still always cuts together in a way that’s like, ‘Oh, that does look like a conversation’.
We tried it one time where she called. I was home in LA and she was on set and she actually called me and we did the scene. But the timing of everything on set, you never know when a scene is going to take place. It was of course hours later than they said it was going to be. So I was sitting at home like waiting for her to call. So I think it’s just not realistic to think that they could do that every time.
If you had to describe Virgin River Season 4 in three adjectives, which ones would you choose?
JC: Baby Daddy drama, I guess. That’s the main storyline. For Joey, she finds new love – that’s sort of her arc for the season. Someone asked me last season what I was hoping for Joey, and that’s sort of what I was hoping for. Some new start because that’s so much of what Virgin River is about. For every character and I felt like Joey really needed that. So that was a nice surprise to find out that she finds love and they found this wonderful actor Dan Payne to play Nate and he was great to work with and I got to be in Virgin River which I love because then you get to see everybody and reconnect.
Season 4 was a big, big season for Joey, since we got the chance to see a different side of her nature, a more impulsive one, a side that came out also because she learned it was worth-it from Mel. How was it like for you to portray this storyline and is there any particular feature that you particularly like in her growth so far?
JC: It was fun. It’s always fun when they change the dynamic because I think that’s how sisters are and all siblings. There’s, you know, a time to learn and a time to teach. A time that you need the support and the time that you give the support. So it’s really nice that they do shift that dynamic. And yeah, it was fun for Joey to be impulsive and have Mel say ‘What are you doing?’ Because in the past seasons that have been Joey saying ‘What are you doing?’.
So yeah, I do think that they learn and grow from each other and it’s always interesting for me to see then where those scenes lead in in subsequent episodes. Because I don’t necessarily know at the time that my advice to her is going to lead to her doing something down the road. So yeah, I really enjoyed it.
I like that she’s being a lot more open and honest than when she started 4 Seasons ago. Pretending she had this perfect life and this perfect marriage.
And of course none of that was true. You’re sort of hiding a lot. So as an actor you’re sort of waiting for that moment when you can really be real, especially with the sibling and say, ‘hey, I’m struggling, I’m going through something that’s hard and I don’t think it’s going to resolve itself’. And sort of all comes crumbling down and then to get to that place of happiness again. I think that’s part of the appeal of the show is that every single character does that. You know, they’re all going through something and we are all going through something as human beings. And so I think that I think that’s great.
Something that fans always love on Virgin River is the constant love and support that Mel and Joey give one another no matter what happens. How was it like to build this amazing sisterhood with Alexandra Breckenridge?
JC: I felt from almost our very first scene that there were some sisterhood there that existed between the two of us and we were able to jump right in. Part of that is being an actor and you get cast as a sister, and you’re like, ‘This is my sister. I love you’, and part of it is chemistry and there’s chemistry as you know, in the romantic scenes in all the couples on the show, but then there’s also chemistry whether you’re playing someone’s friend […] and if that’s there, you’re 90% of the way there in any given scene.
Because I really adore her, I have so much respect for her as a mom and an artist and I hope that some of that is mutual.
So I think when you sit down with someone that you genuinely adore then you just play the scene and the words that are there in the circumstances that you have and coming back to it season after season, it does feel like just comfortable,. I think, even Alex said after one of our last scenes like ‘Yeah, that felt like a Mel and Joey scene’. You know like it just feels good to be back, so it’s really nice.
Talking a little about what’s next – considering you’ve just started filming Season 5 – what can you tease to Virgin River fans about it?
JC: So I’m being completely honest that I don’t know a lot of what’s next for Joey. My scenes for Season 5 have been consolidated to film later in the season. And I think they’ve only written about halfway through the season anyway, so you know the drama will continue. There’s a new writer on board, a new showrunner, and so there will be more twists and turns along the way. But I think we’re not really allowed to say much about season 5.
The interview has been edited for clarity and lenght. Check out the full interview with Jenny Cooper, one of the stars of Netflix’s hit Virgin River, in the video above!
What do you think of Jenny Cooper ‘s thoughts and impressions on her acting process for Brie on Virgin River? Keep following us for more news about Virgin River and other Netflix TV series!!!
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