Netflix’s Virgin River fans are still shocked that a popular character was recast ahead of Season 6, which premiered on the streaming giant’s platform in December 2024.
Season 6 resumed the messy love story of Melinda “Mel” Monroe and Jack Sheridan, but despite the storyline engaging fans yet again, some were confused by another aspect of the show: the replacement of Calvin, who was played by David Cubitt.
While the reason for David Cubitt’s recasting with Josh Blacker, known for his roles in The Wall and Elysium, in Virgin River Season 6 is not confirmed, fans are still only realizing it happened in the first place. One person on Reddit made a board, which was simply called Calvin, to discuss the confusion.
The poster wrote underneath, “Did they seriously change Calvin’s actor in season 6??? I hate when shows do this.” Fans took to the comments section to weigh in further.
“The most likely reason is that when the Actors’ Strike delayed the filming of S6 from July 2023 to February 2024, David Cubitt, the original Calvin actor, was unavailable and thus had to recast his role,” one person pointed out.
The poster replied, “That’s a decent reason; thank you for letting me know. It’s still really unfortunate, but at least he doesn’t get a lot of screen time.”
Another confused viewer added, “Really? I finished season 6 a few weeks ago and could have sworn it was David Cubitt. I’m so confused now. I’ll have to rewatch,” to which the original poster said, “Not the worst recast I’ve seen, but it was still pretty jarring when I noticed it.”
A third fan commented, “I don’t mind that the actor changed, I mind the fact that the character still even exists, lol. It’s been almost seven seasons of him playing the big bad who pops up randomly most of the time, I wish they would just let him go!” Yet another penned, “They changed the actor? I didn’t even notice lmao.”
On another Reddit board called Calvin season 6, one fan wrote, “Anyone else bummed out that Calvin’s actor changed in season 6? I felt like the previous actor portrayed him perfectly.”
One person replied, “Yep. This new fella just isn’t the same, he’s not threatening and intimidating enough. This was a disappointing point of season 6. I hope the original actor returns for S7.” Another said, “Yes, annoyed they changed him.”
A third fumed, “I’m disappointed, I like the original actor. I’m only on episode 3 at the courthouse, where we see him for the 1st time. I was like wait .. this is not right..”
Yet another pointed out, “Me too! I dove deep immediately. Only original Calvin made me actually kind of like his character. The way he would take his hat off and rub his head…new Calvin can’t do that. Fawn.”
The recasting was for two episodes in the season, but the unexpected change left fans confused. Neither the show’s creators nor Blacker addressed the situation. Many have speculated that it was due to scheduling conflicts with David Cubitt.
Sadly, Season 7 might disappoint fans as well. It was supposed to premiere in late 2025 or early 2026, but according to the Economic Times, it’s looking more like an early to mid-2026 premiere.
Two stars are also exiting. Lexa Doig, who plays Paige Lassiter, is not returning. Showrunner Patrick Sean Smith told TV Insider that there are “no plans” to see Doig‘s Paige again.
Mark Ghanimé, who plays Dr. Cameron Hayek, is also not returning. Smith told TVLine, “I love Mark, who plays Cameron, and I love the character of Cameron. He will always be a part of the world, and I would love to see his character back, but he won’t be a series regular in Season 7, unfortunately.”
He added, “I would love and can definitely imagine several opportunities of how we could bring Cameron back into our world.”
