Virgin River’s Ben Hollingsworth Recalls Nina Dobrev Rumors

After false romance rumors in the past, Virgin River‘s Ben Hollingsworth would love to work with friend Nina Dobrev on a rom-com.

“There was always this rumor that Nina and I used to date. That’s not true. We didn’t,” Hollingsworth, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly. “We used to be housemates in Toronto when I was a guest star on Degrassi and she was on Degrassi at the same time. We needed another roommate in our house — we had four actors living in a house — and she came in.”

Hollingsworth recalled Dobrev, 37, subsequently booking her lead role on The Vampire Diaries.

“We went to Los Angeles at the same time she booked The Vampire Diaries and I booked a show on the CW called The Beautiful Life, which only went for a minute,” he continued. “It would be great to reunite with Nina. She’s awesome and we’re great friends. Although it’d be a little weird, it’d be a lot of fun to do it.”

The actor, who shares three kids with wife Nila Myers, told Us that he is having a blast starring in romantic projects. However, he is also interested in any and all opportunities as he prepares to film season 8 of Virgin River.

“[Romance projects are] something that comes to me often. We get a lot of offers for that stuff, but it’s really tricky because you want to balance that,” Hollingsworth explained. “I’m a trained actor. I went to a conservatory and spent three years studying acting when I was 19 through 21. So I’ve got a really diverse background of theater training and I love stretching my range. I’ve had the opportunity to do it a little bit — and I want to continue to do that.”

He continued: “Maybe I can do [something like] Bridgerton. I love the idea of doing a period piece. I love action stuff and you see Brady do a little bit of it in Virgin River. I love doing my own stunts and working with stunt doubles. So it’d be fun to do kind of like a buddy cop action movie, too. We’ll see.”

Hollingsworth had a memorable season on Virgin River after his character Brady was involved in a motorcycle crash.

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Virgin River centers around the dramatic love lives of those living in a small town, but the cast has found more stable relationships in real life. The Netflix drama, which debuted in 2019, centers around Melinda “Mel” Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge), a widow who answers an ad to work as a midwife and nurse practitioner in […]

“That’s pretty much on par for Brady’s luck,” Hollingsworth quipped to Us. “I guess I just can’t have nice things. I guess Brady just can’t have nice things.”

Hollingsworth hinted that “it won’t be all smooth sailing” when Netflix’s longest-running scripted series returns for season 8, adding, “I definitely can’t spoil that. I think that’s going to be something that the audience is just going to have to wait another year to find out.”

Hollingsworth confirmed he knows where Brady will end up. “I would love for Brady to be back. That would be nice. I’d love for him not to die — especially because he finally just got what he wanted,” he concluded.

Virgin River is currently streaming on Netflix.