First Look at Mel’s Parents: Jessica Rothe and Callum Kerr

EXCLUSIVE:As Deadline reported exclusively in February, the upcoming sixth season of the Netflix series Virgin Riverwhich focuses on the wedding of Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson), will also feature flashbacks to Mel’s deceased mother, Sarah, and biological father, Everett. We can now reveal that Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day, My Whole Life) and Callum Kerr (Monarch, One Piece) have been cast in the roles and have shared the first photos of them as Sarah and Everett in Season 6. The returning characters are being introduced as Netflix works to expand Virgin River universe with a prequel telling the origin story of Sarah and Everett.

Seen in flashbacks set mostly in or around 1972, Sarah (Rothe) is a witty, free-spirited big-city girl with a burning passion for activism and trying to avoid the conventional/traditional life of a young woman in the 1970s. Always up for an adventure, she can’t help but pursue an instant spark with handsome musician Everett (Kerr), who may just be her unlucky soulmate.

Everett (Kerr) is a singer-songwriter with a poet’s soul. He’ll one day fulfill his dreams of the stage, but for now he’s slinking through life in a VW van until a chance encounter with a beautiful hitchhiker, Sarah (Rothe), who may show him that life has more to offer than he ever thought possible.

The modern Everett that was revealed in Virgin River The Season 5 Christmas special as Mel’s biological father is played on the show by John Allen Nelson. As series producer Patrick Sean Smith hinted in a Q&A with Deadline after the special, Season 6 will explore “who Everett Reid is, what his backstory is, what his connection was to Virgin River when he met her mom and what his connection is now; Everett’s connection to the town, and Everett and Mel’s connection.”

Prior to the upcoming 1970s storyline, Sarah had not appeared on the show, at least not in a significant way.

The official plot description for the upcoming season hints at a 1970s flashback: “Set against the backdrop of Mel and Jack’s romantic wedding season, the sixth installment promises fresh plot twists, escalating love triangles, a stunning wedding drama, and uncovered secrets from Mel’s father’s past that will transport us back to the magic and mystery of Virgin River in the 1970s.”

In addition to Breckenridge and Henderson, Virgin RiverThe series regular cast for the sixth season includes Tim Matheson, Annette O’Toole, Colin Lawrence, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Zibby Allen, Sarah Dugdale, Marco Grazzini, Kai Bradbury and Kandyse McClure.

Season 6 is directed by Martin Wood, Rama Rau, Felipe Rodriguez, star Martin Henderson, and Monika Mitchell. The writers are Patrick Sean Smith, Jackson Sinder, Erin Cardillo, Rich Keith, Ildiko Susany, Thomas Ian Griffith, Mary Page Keller, Tesia Walker, and Becky Hartman Edwards. The series is executive produced by Smith, Sue Tenney, Amy Palmer Robertson, Roma Roth, Christopher E. Perry, Robyn Carr, Cardillo, and Keith.

Both Rothe and Kerr will appear in other popular Netflix series. Rothe to appear in new medical drama Pulse; Kerr was cast as Smoker in Season 2 One piece. Rothe is repped by Rothe, who is repped by UTA, Brillstein, Sloane Offer Weber & Dern; Scott Kerr is repped by British firm Revolution Talent, Roar and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.