Hollyoaks star lands HUGE role in Netflix drama alongside A-list stars 3 years after quitting as soap villain

HOLLYOAKS star Callum Kerr has landed a role in the popular Netflix drama Virgin River, just three years after the soap. 

Callum, 30, will play the younger version of Mel’s (Alexandra Breckenridge) father Everett Reid, currently portrayed by John Allen Nelson. 

Following on from Mel discovering and meeting her birth father in series 5 of Virgin River, Callum will appear in a series of flashbacks to tell the story of how the character met her mother Sarah (Jessica Rothe). 

Callum rose to fame playing P.C. George Kiss on the Channel 4 soap between 2020 and 2021.

During his time on Hollyoaks, his alter-ego George dated John Paul McQueen and would be violent and manipulative towards him.

The McQueen family eventually exposed what was going on and George tried to flee the village.

However, things took a sinister turn when John Paul’s mum Sally St. Claire killed him by hitting him on the head with a bookend.

Since leaving the soap, Callum starred in a number of other notable roles, including playing Wade Stellings in the Fox series Monarch and sharing the screen with Bridgerton darling Hannah Dodd in Flowers in the Attic. 

He’s also set to portray Smoker in the Netflix series One Piece.

The former soap villain has also ditched the U.K. and moved across the pond to Nashville in the U.S. where he works as an actor and a country singer.

In his latest role as Everett “Champ” Reid, Callum will star opposite Chicago P.D. actor Jessica Rothe in a series of flashbacks that tells the story of how he and Sarah met and fell in love. 

Virgin River is no stranger to using flashbacks to reveal the truth about a character’s past – Mel’s dead husband Mark (Daniel Gillies) appears exclusively in flashbacks, after all. However, these scenes will venture further into the past. 

First-look images show the actors in flashbacks to 1972, with Sarah described as a “witty, free spirit from the big city with an ardent passion for activism.” 

While Everett is a “singer-songwriter with a poet’s soul” skimming through life in a VW Van until his chance meeting with a beautiful hitchhiker, Sarah, shows him there’s more to life than he ever thought possible. 

The official synopsis also teases: “Against the backdrop of Mel and Jack’s romantic spring wedding season, this sixth instalment promises fresh twists and turns, escalating love triangles, delightful wedding drama, as well as uncovered secrets from Mel’s father’s past which will transport us to the magic and mystique of Virgin River in the 1970s.”

The new episodes will see Alexandra Breckenridge reprise her role as Mel alongside Martin Henderson as her on-screen fiancé, Jack Sheridan as the couple continue on their path to parenthood while transforming Lilly’s (Lynda Boyd) farm into their dream house.

Mel will have a lot to contend with, as she previously discovered that the man she believed to be her father actually wasn’t. 

During a Q&A with Deadline, Virgin River showrunner Patrick Sean Smith revealed that the series will explore “who Everett Reid is, what his backstory is, what his connection to Virgin River was when he met her mom and then also what it is today.”

He added that the new episodes will explore the “relationship of Everett with the town as well as Everett and Mel” who are just getting to know each other.

As Netflix is axing TV shows left, right and centre, the continued production of the romantic drama Virgin River proves how popular the drama is. 

In fact, based on its success, Netflix is reportedly also working on a prequel following Sarah and Everett’s love story that would see Jessica and Callum take on starring roles. 

Virgin River series 6 will arrive on Netflix later this year. Series 1 to 5 are available to stream now.