Virgin River fans have only just discovered a prominent actor from one of 2025’s biggest horror movies appeared in a number of episodes of Netflix’s hit romance drama.
The small-town slice of life series follows Mel Monroe (played by Alexandra Breckenridge), who moves to the hamlet following a tragedy and falls in love with bar owner and ex-Marine Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson).
As well as befriending the townsfolk and helping them through various personal struggles, Mel helps her new beau (now her husband as of season six) through his own trauma after serving in the military.
An eagle-eyed Virgin River fan took to Reddit recently when they realized a key member of Jack’s Marine squad popped up in The Monkey, Osgood Perkins’ hit horror movie based on a short story by Stephen King.
“Just watched the movie The Monkey and looked up one of the actors, Rohan Campbell, whose face you don’t really see much (bc of having bangs, not a spoiler),” they began.
This actor played a crucial role in Jack’s Marine storyline
“And it says he played “Lonergan” in 4 episodes of VR, but I have literally no memory of this character. Who is this?”
In the movie, Campbell portrays Ricky, a young man with a vendetta against Hal Shelburn (Theo James) who styles himself as a goth, complete with long, black hair that covers a lot of his face.
It’s easy to see why Virgin River fans may have missed this connection, as Campbell’s character in the Netflix series doesn’t get much face time.
One fan replied: “Lonergan was a member of Jack’s squad or platoon in the Marines.
“[Spoilers] he was killed, which has had lingering effects on Jack [Spoilers]. They hired an actor for the flashbacks to Jack’s time in war.”
The Monkey’s Rohan Campbell portrayed Lonergan in Virgin River
While Lonergan hasn’t been part of Virgin River’s main storyline, he played an instrumental part in Jack’s journey.
Flashbacks revealed Lonergan died in Jack’s arms, leaving him with lasting trauma that he’s struggled to get over ever since.
In another episode, Jack’s Marine buddy Zeke (Garfield Wilson) brings up Lonergan during a fireside chat, and Jack refuses to talk about him, walking away to get himself another beer.
Thankfully, he has Mel constantly by his side to talk through his traumatic experiences as a Marine and his mental health has improved in leaps and bounds in recent seasons.
He’s even managed to give up drinking after realizing he was using alcohol to numb his PTSD.
