“What’s Gotten Us This Far is Our Fans” — Benjamin Hollingsworth Promises a “Mini Virgin River” Experience at Meet Cute Con: Small Town Swoon

There may not be a better way to celebrate everything Virgin River has become than by bringing its cast and fans together.

And that’s exactly what you can anticipate, with most of the Virgin River cast making their debut at the inaugural Meet Cute Con: Small Town Swoon, a fan convention, along with stars from One Tree Hill and The Way Home.

It’s a chance to escape into the warm, small-town vibes of some of your favorite series and meet face-to-face with the stars who play cherished characters. We also had the opportunity to speak with Benjamin Hollingsworth about what to expect!

Virgin River continues to do something unprecedented on Netflix as it heads into Season 8 and officially becomes the longest-running series in Netflix history.

It’s a remarkable achievement, especially in today’s television landscape, and Dan Brady star Benjamin Hollingsworth was incredibly humble about it — as well as grateful and stunned.

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He credits the show’s success to the viewers themselves, a devoted fanbase the cast deeply cherishes.

“It’s surreal. I’m very, very aware of how blessed [I am] and I’m super grateful that I’m a part of this historic [feat]. With season eight, we became the longest-running Netflix series in history, which is — I don’t know how to quite compute that — but it’s a blessing, and I’m grateful.

“And what’s really cool is what’s gotten us this far: our fans. We’re finally getting a chance to meet some of them and chat with them, which is really exciting.”

That chance is coming at Meet Cute Con: Small Town Swoon, a fan convention taking place in Nashville, Tennessee, this November.

The convention will bring One Tree Hill alum Jana Kramer and Bethany Joy Lenz together, along with The Way Home‘s Chyler Leigh and Evan Williams.

And, of course, it will also bring most of the Virgin River cast together for the first time in an official capacity to meet fans in an experience designed to feel a little more personal than your typical fan convention.

Accompanying Hollingsworth are Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Colin Lawrence, and Zibby Allen.

“We’ll all be together, and it’s crazy that it’s taken us this long to get together and chat about Virgin River, but hey, better now than never!”

A convention that celebrates community and the beauty of a small town could not be a more fitting theme for Virgin River, which epitomizes that vibe like none other.

And Hollingworth agrees, because despite all the drama, romance, heartbreak, and chaos that comes with living in Virgin River, the center of it all is community.

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“Well, I think it comes down to community. A lot of us, we get this question often, and we’ve all kind of tried to answer it in another way, but we can’t. It’s community.

“The town of Virgin River is really the main character of the show, and we all just kind of rotate around it.

“And what makes the town special — it’s beautiful — but what makes it special is all these characters come together, and they form this community where they’re deeply connected, and they care for each other, and they show up for each other, and they support each other. And for us, for society today, that’s become less and less common.

“We have communities online. We have so many communities online, but our personal interaction, that community, is starting to fade away.

“And again, I think that’s one of the reasons why we decided this was a good thing to do, is to try and reinforce that community, even within our show.

“We do have such great fans, and the ability to get together with them and form our own little community, our own little mini Virgin River is going to be fun.”

That idea of creating a “mini Virgin River” is really the heart of Meet Cute Con: Small Town Swoon.

Rather than simply putting fans and actors in the same massive convention space, this immersive event is intended to create the kind of smaller, more personal interactions that can get lost at larger conventions.

Hollingsworth has experienced a convention before, but this one appealed to him for precisely that reason.

“I personally had done one other one, but part of the reason why we all decided we wanted to do this one was that this one’s going to feel more intimate and feel more like a community and less like some of the bigger ones. They’re in convention centers, and it doesn’t — they can feel sterile or non-personal.

“It’s hard to connect with someone in that environment; there are big, long lines. And it just becomes like hurtling, you know, it’s strange. What you really want, I think what the company is doing with the whole Meet Cute thing is you get to have that fun little mini interaction with someone you know so well from TV.

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“And that’s really cool. And I’m looking forward to Meet Cute, all the fans out there. I don’t think some of the other cast have done them before. I don’t think Colin [Lawrence] has, or I don’t think Martin Henderson has ever done one. So this is the perfect opportunity to meet Martin.”

Of course, part of the fun in meeting these stars is getting to pick their brains about their characters.

And we couldn’t help but point out that Brady has had one of the most complex and compelling journeys on Virgin River over the years.

His evolution is instrumental in both how the series resonates with the characters and their struggles and why people tune in and connect with characters they root for.

Hollingsworth cites that evolution as one of the most rewarding aspects of playing the role.

“I think it’s just as you said that he has a very complex, very in-depth, layered arc and journey on the show. And I get to kind of play a new shade of him every year.

“And you see this guy mature and grow and learn and struggle and fall down and pick himself up. And just when he’s got it all figured out, it all comes crumbling apart for him. And that’s very much life, isn’t it?

“Like, we’re all dealing with that. We’re all trying our best. We’re all failing.

“We’re all succeeding sometimes. And when we think we’ve got it figured out, it all goes to crap. So I feel like it’s a very relatable thing.

“And I think that’s what makes Brady so endearing. He is the underdog, and he has had some tough luck. But he’s always trying to do the right thing. Even if it’s technically the wrong thing, he’s doing it for the right reasons.

“And that’s kind of the thesis of who Brady is.”

Hollingsworth is all prepared to talk about his character at the convention, and he’s ready to defend Brady to the hilt.

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He was also pretty mum when we tried to pick his brain about what to expect from Brady in the upcoming season, or what juicy tidbits he could tease about Brady and Brie’s romance.

“I think you might have to go to Meet Cute Con to get some tidbits,” he teased. “We’re going to have panels there. And so I know I’m a part of at least two per day, where we’re going to take questions from audiences.

“I’m sure some people out there might have some questions. And you get a chance to talk to us in real life, face to face, and I’m sure people have some opinions of Brady’s choices along the way. So I’m ready to defend those. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We can’t wait.”

We wondered whether, after all these years, interacting with viewers has influenced how he approaches playing the character or changed his perspective on Brady.

While he doesn’t necessarily approach the character differently because of fan feedback, he does value hearing what resonates with them.

“I don’t know if it’ll change necessarily how I approach Brady, but it’s always interesting to see what fans are thinking about the direction of your character. It’s really sweet to hear — I obviously meet a lot of people in real life when I run into them at the grocery store, airport, or wherever.

“They usually have something to say about a favorite moment or worst moment or questions. And when you hear about what resonates with people, what scene really popped, you know, sometimes it’s the most unexpected thing where someone will be like, “This meant so much to me at this time in my life. And it really helped me get over this or really helped me through this moment.’

“And that’s cathartic for us to know that we’re having that effect on people’s lives. So I think as excited as fans get for these things, I think, secretly, we kind of also get excited about them.”

And that’s probably the biggest reason Meet Cute Con: Small Town Swoon — it’s as rewarding for the stars as it is for the fans.

Virgin River has spent eight seasons building a fictional community viewers have longed to be part of, and now they’ll get the chance to recreate it and bring it to life for a very special weekend.

You can purchase your tickets for Meet Cute Con: Small Town Swoon now. The event takes place November 6–8, and you can expect panels, musical performances from some of the stars, and so much more!

The post “What’s Gotten Us This Far is Our Fans” — Benjamin Hollingsworth Promises a “Mini Virgin River” Experience at Meet Cute Con: Small Town Swoon appeared first on TV Fanatic.

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