Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson.
Courtesy of NetflixVirgin River finally let Mel and Jack walk down the aisle during the Season 6 finale — and the stars Alexandra Breckenridge AND Martin Henderson are looking back at their best memories from the big day.
“Seeing Martin crying every time I walked down the aisle,” Breckenridge, 42, exclusively told the latest issue of Us Weekly. “I wasn't crying. I said, 'Oh no, where are my tears?' I know, happy tears. I'm like, “Where are they?” But every time I would walk down the hall, he would take it all in (with misty eyes). He was being really sentimental and it was so sweet.”
After six seasons of breakups and make-ups, a fake paternity test and a devastating pregnancy loss, Mel (Breckenridge) and Jack (Henderson) said “I do” surrounded by their friends and family in the Season 6 finale. It was an emotional moment for everyone involved in the series, and while Breckenridge was able to keep her eyes dry, Henderson explained why the moment resonated with her so deeply.
“Obviously, I've invested a lot of energy and emotion into the character of Jack and his love for Mel, which is kind of the heart of the show,” he said. “So to finally get to that moment and have Mel walk down the aisle radiant and so beautiful, I felt that love that I think these characters have for each other. It was just moving.”
How the wedding was shot, Henderson added, felt so “beautiful” and “soft” for the two characters, who have been through so much together. “I was quite shocked and very excited about it. It was so moving,” Henderson continued. “It's been six seasons until this. … I poured my heart and soul into (Mel and Jack) and I was so happy that Jack had this woman as his wife and what that means to him.”
Henderson noted how monumental the moment was for fans as well, who knew Mel and Jack were destined to be soul mates from the pilot. “They belong together,” he said. “The audience knows that when she walks into the bar (in the pilot). So it felt like the culmination of all that energy and romance and love and excitement that's existed between them for six seasons.”
Henderson certainly wasn't the only person on set feeling the waves of emotion. Breckenridge said most people who attended the ceremony had tears in their eyes.
“I think there were a lot of people crying,” she said To us. “Like, with (Mel's father figure) Doc (played by Tim Matheson) walking me down the aisle … when I was saying my vows, I could hear him sniffing behind me.”
While Henderson will likely remember Jack's wedding day for the rest of his life, there was one particular Season 6 moment he's chosen to forget: performing an intimate strip for Breckenridge to “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” by Big & Rich.
“I literally completely blocked it out of my mind,” said Henderson of the moment, who watched Jack undress while donning a cowboy hat. “This was one of the most excruciating moments of my life, let alone my career.”
All jokes aside, Henderson wanted to make sure the scene felt authentic to who Jack was as a character – which is why he turned down the opportunity to have a professional dance block and instead relied on the freedom of his creative.
“They offered, 'Do you want to do the choreography?' And I thought, 'Oh, yeah, yeah. I definitely need some help.' But then I was about to go on the first date and I thought, 'Wait, this is going to be really weird. Jack Sheridan, the bar owner from Virgin River, just kind of walks out Magic Mikewith perfect choreography? It will just look comical. It will look silly.' So I said: 'You know what? No, forget it. Just play the song'”
What followed this decision was a fan-favorite moment and the highlight of all six seasons, which Henderson described as an attempt by Jack to “entertain his drunk fiancee” after she didn't have a stripper at the party. her Bachelorette. Fortunately for Henderson, Breckenridge was the perfect scene partner to help him feel comfortable being so vulnerable — especially when the production had to cut the music mid-set.
“There was a bit of dialogue, unfortunately, kind of interlaced between the tapes. So to get the sound for her lines and my lines, we couldn't play music,” he said. us. “It was so embarrassing. i was dying There is no music, no rhythm. I'm just doing this funny dance. But I will say, Alexandra Breckenridge was so gracious and present and played it in front of me with such joy and fun,” he said. “And that's why I think in the end I decided, 'This should just be the two of them really enjoying each other.'”
The wedding (and the Bachelor/Bachelorette chaos) was definitely the highlight of Season 6, but Mel and Jack were also on their respective journeys. Breckenridge was particularly invested in Mel's story line with her biological father, Everett (John Allen Nelson), with whom he reconnected at the end of season 5. The pair spend Virgin River season 6 getting to know each other while also bonding over their mutual love for Mel's mother, Sarah, who died when she was 11.
“I found it really touching, especially because you know what it's like to lose your mother,” said Breckenridge, whose mother died. us. “So I connected very quickly on that level. I've always been there for (Mel), but what she's going through emotionally with finding her father and being able to have this glimpse of what her mother was like (was special).
Although Mel and Everett experienced a few bumps in the road as they tried to find their new normal, their dynamic developed quickly throughout the season, and it's something Breckenridge looks forward to continuing with Season 7.
“'I'm very curious to see where this goes,'” she told us. “I love how Mel tries to open up about her relationship with her father and he keeps trying to push her away because I think he doesn't want to experience the loss again. You know, a lot of times people who lose people are afraid to love someone again because they're afraid they're going to go through that pain. But you can't live without it, you know? It's not a life if you don't love again.”
While Mel continued to navigate her new relationship with her father, Jack was also on his own personal journey, one that Henderson believes was about “making peace and coming to terms with what it meant to him to be of his military back then, but also what does he mean now.”
“We saw him struggle with that when he had to reconnect with his ex-wife. And the medal being given to him, he's almost dismissive of it and shies away from the idea that it was a good thing,” he explained. “And he's throwing the baby out with the bathwater in a way because he has so much pain and regret about some of the things that happened.”
Henderson noted that Jack was also forced to balance his negative emotions about his time in the military while also supporting Ricky (Grayson Maxwell Guernsey), who returned to Virgin River before settling. “Jack is trying to stay the course and stay supportive and not hurt this poor kid. (Ricky) already has his insecurities and his fears, and Jack is trying to say, 'Hey, it's okay. I was scared too'. And there's a gray area around her, and Jack, emotionally, and he doesn't know how to feel.”
Mel and Jack's individual storylines will likely continue in Season 7, but the pair will also face many more obstacles together. The final moments of season 6 saw the pair stuck on cliffhangers, with pregnant teenager Marley (Rachel Drance) announcing that she wants Mel and Jack to adopt her unborn child. Jack, meanwhile, went to check on a missing Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) and found her home ransacked before opening up the infant twins' bedroom and discovering something shocking — a discovery audiences haven't seen yet.
Mel and Jack, of course, have wanted a child together for a while, but after Mel experienced her second pregnancy loss in Virgin River season 5, their future as parents has been up in the air. Season 7, however, could mean big changes for the newlywed duo.
“Jack is still ready for this family that he wants and he's pretty anxious and eager to know where this is going to lead,” Henderson shared, while Breckenridge teased that there are a million thoughts running through Mel's head — but that it does not mean she is closed to the idea.
“She's like in complete shock,” she explained. “I mean, she just got married. It's literally the morning after she wakes up, and she's in shock. And then there is, for example, that hope that begins to creep. We will see. I don't know.”
Virgin River now streaming on Netflix.
