Not Jack! Virgin River Star Martin Henderson’s Next Move Puts His Future on the Show in Question
Virgin River star Martin Henderson is taking on an exciting new role, but will the career opportunity take him away from the show? Keep reading to see if Martin Henderson is leaving Virgin River.
The series is a romantic drama based on the novels of the same name by Robyn Carr. It debuted on Netflix in 2019 and centers on Melinda ‘Mel’ Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge), a woman who relocates from Los Angeles to the remote Northern California town Virgin River for a fresh start. She is hired by Vernon “Doc” Mullins (played by Tim Matheson) to be the town’s nurse practitioner/midwife and quickly forms close bonds with several of the townspeople, including Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson), whom she later gets engaged to.
Henderson’s Jack Sheridan has become a favorite on the show and fans love his and Mel’s dynamic. It’s hard to picture the heartwarming drama without him, but a new update on the actor’s career begs the question of if he will be on-screen in Season 6, which is set to premiere sometime in 2025. Read on for everything there is to know about Martin Henderson’s latest career endeavor and whether or not he’s returning to Virgin River.
Is Martin Henderson leaving Virgin River?
Is Martin Henderson leaving Virgin River? The answer is no. Martin Henderson does not appear to be leaving the show anytime soon, but he will be stepping behind the camera in Season 6.
On April 22, the show revealed on Instagram that Henderson is making his directorial debut in the upcoming new season. “Our very own Martin Henderson is having his directorial debut this season of Virgin River! 🎥 ❤️,” the Virgin River account captioned a behind-the-scenes photo of the actor sitting in a director’s chair and holding a clapper board.
Fans were thrilled about the news and shared their excitement in the comments section. “Awesome! excited to see his take on the show,” one fan wrote. Another commented, “Will he direct the episode of Jack and Mel’s wedding?❤️.” Henderson’s co-star Ben Hollingsworth also commented on the post, writing: “Martin ‘Scorsese’ Henderson 🎬.”
It’s unclear how many episodes of the season the Grey’s Anatomy alum will be directing or if he will appear on-screen during them, but Jack and Mel still need to get married, so he likely won’t be missing from too many episodes, if any. Production for Season 6 began in Vancouver on Feb. 21 and is expected to wrap in May.
Henderson previously spoke about his future on the show during a December 2023 interview with TV Insider. The actor revealed that he wants to keep playing Jack for as long as he can, under one condition. “One thing I really don’t like is when writers change a character midway through a show — they run out of ideas, they just start trying to throw new things in there to keep it interesting, and they betray the character,” he explained. “As long as that doesn’t happen, I think I’d be happy playing the role, but I wouldn’t want to get into that territory where you start doing gimmicky things just to keep it on the air, just to keep it interesting or fresh. If it starts to lose its authenticity, then I think I would probably bow out at that point.”
He added that he enjoys how “charming and romantic” Jack is, noting: “[Jack] has all these really heroic qualities, but he also has a lot of demons that he’s dealing with, and he has things that trouble him, and he has a lot of vulnerable moments, not necessarily publicly, but stuff that the audience sees him deal with. And I think that’s really interesting.”
“So, as long as the character remains interesting to play, I could see myself doing it for a bit longer,” he concluded.
