‘Virgin River’ Adds ‘One Tree Hill’ Alum

A One Tree Hill alum is headed to Virgin River.

TVLine reports that Austin Nichols has been cast in the upcoming seventh season of the Netflix drama.

Details surrounding his character are being kept under wraps, but confirmation of his addition comes just a month after the actor teased his involvement on Instagram. On June 18, Nichols shared a video telling fans he “just landed in Virgin Riv… I mean Vancouver” to start a new job, and he couldn’t wait for people to see it. With the mysteries surrounding his character, this leaves a lot of questions as to who he is playing, what he will bring to town, and who he could be seen with the most.

Nichols joins series regulars Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Colin Lawrence, Jenny Cooper, Lauren Hammersley, Annette O’Toole, Tim Matheson, Ben Hollingsworth, Sarah Dugdale, Zibby Allen, Marco Grazzini, Kai Bradbury, and Kandyse McClure. Based on the book series of the same name by Robyn Carr, Virgin River was created by Sue Tenney and was recently renewed for a record-breaking eighth season, making the show the longest-running Netflix original. A premiere date for Season 7 has not yet been announced.

Austin Nichols is best known for his role as movie producer and director Julian Baker, beginning with the sixth season until the ninth and final season. While on-screen wife Sophia Bush is attached to the upcoming revival on Netflix with Hilarie Burton, there’s no word on whether Nichols will be joining them. He’s set to appear in the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer film, with other credits including Due West, The Six Triple Eight, The Christmas Classic, Minx, Walker, Ray Donovan, The Village, Bates Motel, The Walking Dead, LOL, and Beautiful Boy, among others.

Since Virgin River might return later this year on Netflix, it likely shouldn’t be long until a date is announced. It also shouldn’t be long until more details surrounding Nichols’ character are released, but this just gives fans more theories to come up with as they wait for Season 7. In the meantime, the first six seasons of Virgin River are streaming on Netflix, while all nine seasons of One Tree Hill are streaming on Hulu, so fans can get their Nichols fix before he joins the romance drama.