Exclusive Interview
Inside ‘Virgin River’s Sexiest Scene Yet With Zibby Allen & Benjamin Hollingsworth
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Virgin River Season 6.]
You’ll never be able to look at pool tables the same way again. The simmering tension between Brie (Zibby Allen) and Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth) boiled over in Season 6 Episode 5 of Virgin River, which will go down in history as one of the show’s hottest episodes ever.
In “Love Story,” Brie tells Brady that Jimmy (Ian Tracey) is the father of Lark’s (Elise Gatien) daughter, Hazel. At first, Brady doesn’t believe Brie and gets defensive, accusing her of ruining his relationship. He soon realizes that Lark’s been playing him this whole time. Brady believes he deserves this betrayal because of his past. “You are worthy of love, and no one knows that better than me,” Brie says, which cracks Brady’s resolve.
A hug turns into a kiss, which turns into Brady ripping open Brie’s shirt, buttons flying everywhere. She crawls backward onto the pool table, a shirtless Brady following her until they’re on the green table top — in Jack’s bar, no less! Allen and Hollingsworth spoke with Swooon about Virgin River’s steamiest scene to date, including how the pool table was not a part of the original plan.
Netflix
“Let me tell you, there were different versions, and Ben and I were talking a lot about it in the lead-up because I can’t even remember where it was originally. I think it might have been the bed because Brady’s staying upstairs,” Allen said. “And the thing is, we’ve seen them there in that space, and I think we were both really excited about this moment for Brie and Brady. It felt inevitable, and it felt like there was a lot of anticipation.”
Hollingsworth recalled how he told one of the writers at an Oscars party that he wanted to make this Brie and Brady reunion “really iconic.” The scene was originally in the bed, which he didn’t feel met the moment. “I wanted it to feel completely non-planned, completely just spur of the moment where they’re not thinking about anything,” he said. “This should be the last thing that anyone would expect to happen in that moment.”
He continued, “And I’m like, let’s have it happen in the bar on the pool table because the pool table’s always going to be in Jack’s bar, and that pool table will forever be changed in Jack’s bar to that scene and what takes place in that scene. I think there’s something iconic and almost territorial in a way.”
Allen noted that they pitched the pool table to showrunner Patrick Sean Smith “immediately that evening, and I’m so glad they went with it because I think they were like, is that sacreligious, like Jack’s bar, but it feels potentially iconic.”
Any time someone, especially Brie and Brady, catch a glimpse at that pool table, there’s going to be some blushing. “There’s a scene where they’re both in the bar, and I look at the pool table, and I don’t know if they caught it or how it was edited together, but it’s just one of those things that’s ever present and will always be there,” Hollingsworth pointed out.
Allen was the first to admit that she’s “never had a pool table moment” before now. For Hollingsworth, he wanted this secret and steamy tryst to feel unexpected and what Brie and Brady are feeling in the moment. “It’s just a primal thing that happens. It was really important for me and for Zib that we wanted the characters not to have any of this was preordained,” he told Swooon.
This hookup brought the feelings Brie and Brady had tried to bury as they moved on with other people back up to the surface. At the end of the season, Mike (Marco Grazzini) proposes to Brie, who is ready to confess to the pool table hookup. Turns out, Mike already knows and still wants to marry Brie. So, will Brie choose Mike or go back to Brady, who declared his love before Mel and Jack’s wedding?
“I think there’s so much real love between them, and I think that pool table scene is hot, but there’s also a real acknowledgement,” Allen explained. “She says, ‘You’re worthy of love, and I know that better than anyone else.’ I think the thing is, she’s felt unworthy of love for a long time, and they really do genuinely love each other. I do think she believes probably that there’s a real deep soul connection.”
Hollingsworth hopes that Brie and Brady are endgame, and the pool table will be just one chapter in their love story. “I’d like to believe that the endgame is Brady and Brie, but the way I play it is through the lens of this character who has really never had a connection before with a woman and the fact that he’s met his match with Brie and really falls for the first time for her,” he said.
“There’s this whole idea of your first love, but it could also feel like Brie might be his last love.”
Virgin River, Season 6, Streaming Now, Netflix
