She also discusses working with co-star Tim Matheson and teases the “big event” coming in Season 5.

From developer Sue Tenney (based on the novel series of the same name by Robyn Carr), Virgin River recently aired its fourth season on Netflix and currently shows no signs of slowing down. The show follows midwife and nurse practitioner Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge), who accepts a job working at a small clinic in a remote mountain town, only to find that being out of the big city doesn’t mean she won’t encounter lots of big situations. While local physician Vernon “Doc” Mullins (Tim Matheson) and his estranged wife, Virgin River mayor Hope McCrea (Annette O’Toole) are initially skeptical of Mel’s presence, others — like local bar owner Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson) are instantly charmed by the latest addition to the town. Over the course of the show’s four seasons — with a fifth currently in production — Mel has become more tightly integrated into the Virgin River community, and most recently it was revealed that she and Jack are not only expecting a baby together, but the two decided to get hitched amidst all of the other drama happening on the series. The fourth season also stars Colin Lawrence as Preacher, Lauren Hammersley as Jack’s ex Charmaine, Benjamin Hollingsworth as Brady, Zibby Allen as Brie, Grayson Gurnsey as Ricky, Sarah Dugdale as Lizzie, Marco Grazzini as Mike, and Mark Ghanimé as Dr. Cameron Hayek.

In the wake of Season 4 premiering on Netflix, Collider had the opportunity to catch up with O’Toole via phone about her time on the series. From Vancouver, where O’Toole is currently filming Season 5, the actress spoke at length about why she had to largely take a step back from being in the third season (and the inventive way she was able to stay involved), how Hope’s accident has impacted the character in Season 4, and what it’s been like to work with Matheson as a scene partner. She also discussed Hope’s relationship with Muriel (Teryl Rothery), her memories of filming that garden moment between Hope and Lilly, the “big event” fans can expect in Season 5, and more.

Collider: I know that you participated from a distance for Season 3, but it was nice to see Hope still popping up. When did the conversation start about you returning full-time for Season 4? Or was that always an inevitability? Just waiting for certain real-life things to calm down?

ANNETTE O’TOOLE: Yeah, I think it was. All of us wanted that to happen. The producers and Netflix and I, most of all. I was devastated not to be able to go for Season 3. It was really a matter of choosing family over work for once in my life. I’ve always been a workaholic, and it’s always been such a big part of my life and not to be there was really hard, but my mom is … She’s now 96, going to be 97 next month. And at that time … There was no vaccine. I just couldn’t leave — mostly her, but also my husband and my kids. My fear was, I think… Because I was up here when 9/11 happened, I was doing Smallville and I had flown in the night before because I was commuting from LA, and I got caught up here and there were no flights. So I had to drive home. I drove home myself and had to turn around and go right back.

So I think because of that, I just felt like, “Oh my God, if this virus is as bad as we think it’s going to be, I could get up there and not be able to get home.” I just couldn’t do it. I admired everybody who did come up here and take their lives in their hands, basically, then, to do the show. But I was so happy when they asked me to do some shows from home because I thought, “Oh, how will they do that?” That was the early, early days of the pandemic, so they couldn’t send a crew to my house. My daughter, Anna, who works in film production, came over with her cell phone, and we went all through the house, and we scouted locations in the house to do these calls. I was just really glad to be kept in the season at all.

When Season 4 happened and then there was a vaccine, and there were boosters, and there were masks, and everybody was aware, and there were flights going back and forth, and they were being so careful up here, I thought, “Okay, I’ll be able to do it.” Because it’s a five-month commitment once I’m here. I got to go back twice to see my mom and my husband got to come up, and he’s here now. It’s nice. It’s a lot easier to coordinate.

To your point, even though you weren’t able to physically be there, getting to participate from a distance and with your family involved, the personal story behind it almost makes it feel a little more special in a way.

O’TOOLE: It was, because I wouldn’t have been able to shoot it myself. My daughter’s … I mean, she did the whole thing on her iPhone. It was supposed to look like a Zoom call, but there was a lot more to it than that. They had to find the right background. They had to find the right lighting. They sent me my clothes. They had to send me props. They had to send my glasses from Vancouver. I remember we were going to shoot it a certain day and the glasses hadn’t arrived. Then, everything had to be sterilized because it was coming from another country, and it had to go through customs, and it was like being held up because she would not not wear her glasses, and those are props. They’re not my glasses. The ring that Doc had given her, I had to wear I don’t know if anybody knows, but there’s a little necklace that Hope always wears, an H. It’s hardly ever seen. Sometimes in a closeup, you can see it. But those were important things. And then they sent different items for me to wear that are from Hope’s closet, so there was a lot of prep that went into it and then Anna had to upload, download, whatever it is you have to do, that I never could have done, and sent it to the editors of the show. It was really like she was on the crew of Virgin River. There was a lot that went into it, and I was just so appreciative that everybody was so on board to make it happen.

Hope, in Season 4, is navigating the aftermath of her car accident and the physical consequences that have resulted from that. What were you looking forward to exploring, in terms of how this challenge brings out different aspects of the character that you hadn’t gotten to tap into yet?

O’TOOLE: Well, it really made her, whether she wanted to or not, slow down, because she just had to. Her balance is off. She has terrible headaches. She’s not being able to put words together the right way. She had no choice. She had to just take better care of herself and accept help from people. Even after her little heart attack in the first season, she wasn’t down for very long, and she went right back to her old ways, but this is a different thing. A heart attack’s pretty bad, but I don’t think her heart attack was as bad as it could have been. Thank goodness. But this was bad, and she is coming out of it pretty quickly for someone her age, for the type of injury it was. That’s because they want her to come back as much as she can, the producers and the Netflix people. I think they want that energy of her to come back, so that’s happening.

I wanted it to be organic. I wanted it to be real. The good thing is that brain injuries are so individual to the person, so it can go so many ways. I was doing a lot of reading about it and relatively, a concussion can be really bad depending on the person and what their state is physically and mentally — emotionally, even. I was watching Jeopardy! while we were shooting it last season, because it’s not only Hope’s show, but it’s Annette’s show too, and they were talking to a young man during the interviews that they do with the contestants, and they said, “Oh, you just had a traumatic brain injury.” He had a trauma and he had just had it six or eight weeks prior. I think it was a ski accident or something, and here he was playing Jeopardy! — and not just playing, he was doing really well.

So I thought, “Listen, anything is possible, so I’m not going to put any kind of weight on [her]. [She] can be good sometimes. [She has] good and bad days.” It was a really wonderful acting exercise for me, for each scene and the way it was written and where it came in the season to get better. I loved it because it changed Hope in a really organic way that I couldn’t deny. I had to go with it.

One of the relationships on the show that I already loved is Hope and Doc, and this season tests them in a lot of ways. He’s trying to decide how helpful he can be, but not be too overbearing. She doesn’t want to be looked after, necessarily, but also doesn’t want to admit the fact that maybe she needs a little more help than she used to. What do you enjoy about getting to work with Tim as a scene partner, and exploring the dynamic of that relationship that just is so important to Hope?

O’TOOLE: Well, I’ve known Tim for over 40 years. I mean, I knew him socially before, and I had a boyfriend at the time who did a movie with him, and so I met Tim and he’s always been lovely. We’ve worked together a couple times before this, so it’s nice to have a relationship with an actor you’re playing, you’re a long-term couple with, so that all that work is done for you already. But it’s great.

Yes, it was hard for them because they have not been together, really, as a couple, for a very long time. They were a couple for maybe a year or two, and then this big rift happened and they were separated, but friendly, and just as they got back together, she goes off and then has to deal with her aunt and then comes back for Lilly and gets in this accident. So they haven’t figured out what their normal is as a couple, and so it’s weird. It’s like they’re having to redo something that was never really set up well, to begin with, or for very long.

So that’s really interesting to play, and the fact that they’re older people too. Everything about it is sort of different from what you normally get to play in these parts. If you’re playing a long-term couple, it’s usually, “Oh, the bloom is off the rose and how do we find our way back to when… ”

We usually go over our scenes beforehand and figure out what’s really going on and what we want to communicate because there’s so much that’s not written. They’re saying things, but there’s so much between the lines. That’s the case in all scenes, but it’s really fun to have a partner who is totally into that, and a lot of the stuff we just do naturally. I think it’s appreciated at work because we just do it. We come in and when we’re blocking it, we just figure it out and do it. The director will come and say, “Oh, can you do that over here?” There’s not a lot to talk about. We just fall into it.

One of the other dynamics I was pleasantly surprised by is seeing what happens with Hope and Muriel. Do you think Hope still considers Muriel a little bit of a rival, friendly or not? Or is she starting to come around more to the idea of friendship?

O’TOOLE: I don’t think she ever felt Muriel was a real rival for Vernon. Really. I mean, she was the one instigating that whole thing because I think Hope just loves drama in her relationship. There’s just something about it that she enjoys. So she was making this whole thing up. There was something about it that was tantalizing, I think, to Hope, to have this kind of fake rivalry, but then she really did come around to the fact that this is a human being. [Muriel] may have been an actress, [and] she may seem superficial, but [Hope] should not play with this woman’s feelings this way. Out of guilt from her actions, she has tried to befriend Muriel, and then suddenly along the way, she realizes they have a lot in common. She really likes her.

Of all the women in Virgin River, they’re certainly the most alike. Even though Hope’s life has not been worldly like Muriel’s has been, where she’s lived in New York and she’s done plays, and she’s been all over the place and has other talents, Hope has a role in Virgin River that’s very worldly. She is the mayor and she has to deal with things. Even though you don’t see it in these prior seasons, you will see it more in Season 5, her duties as mayor, what she really has done for the town, what she wants to do for the town actively. So, she’s had a bigger role in the community. She and Muriel, I think, do have an opportunity to really click, and I certainly do with Teryl as an actress. I love her as a person and we’ve had lunch together and we certainly love to act together. I’m really hopeful that relationship will be what you want it to be, which is a nice friendship.