Benjamin Hollingsworth’s Role in ‘An Easter Bloom’ Is a ‘Complete Pivot’ From ‘Virgin River’

Benjamin Hollingsworth takes a break from Virgin River’s resident bad boy with a heart of gold Dan Brady to star in Hallmark Channel’s latest DaySpring original movie An Easter Bloom, part of the network’s Spring Into Love programming event airing on Easter weekend. Hollingsworth plays Derrick, a pastor at a local church who crosses paths with a gardener named Amanda (Aimee Teegarden).

Derrick helps Amanda find comfort in her faith after experiencing a heartbreaking loss. As their connection blossoms, both Derrick and Amanda become the best versions of themselves.

Below, Hollingsworth opens up about how he prepared to play a pastor for the first time and the physical transformation he’s had to undergo to get back to playing Brady in Virgin River Season 6.

Did you have to do any preparation to play a pastor?

I did. I’ve actually never played a pastor before. Going from Virgin River and playing Brady, who is kind of the bad boy, to this was a complete pivot from what I’m normally doing. I really embraced it. I looked up a bunch of different pastors and different pastors preaching. Judah Smith, who is known for being Justin Bieber’s main pastor, has a very different way of preaching. He’s more geared towards a younger generation. He’s very to the core of faith and isn’t specific to a denomination, which is what we’re trying to head towards in this film. I did get the idea to do the Southern accent. I picked up a lot of his mannerisms, but also, he’s got a really good style. I guess he’s known for being like a fashionable pastor. I used all that as an excuse to give Derrick more layers. I really wanted to make him feel authentic. I wanted it to feel like you could see this guy in your local church or that he sounded familiar. I think that’s where listening to a lot of pastors on YouTube doing their sermons really helped.

I’m sure going from someone like Brady to one like Derrick and then back again gave you some whiplash.

It did. Especially even more so going from Derrick to filming Season 6 of Virgin River. We were delayed because of the strike like so many productions were, so it had been more than a full year since I’d had on my leather jacket. It was harder for me to go from playing a pastor to Brady. They’re different in so many ways. They talk differently and carry themselves differently. I spent a lot of time immediately in the gym because I didn’t want to be this ripped pastor. I kind of stopped working out and just really doing cardio to get Derrick’s body to look like a preacher, and then completely reversed that. I’ve been a regular figure at the gym since trying to get Brady back.

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How does Amanda and Derrick’s relationship evolve over the course of the film?

I think both Amanda and Derrick are transitioning in a sense. Amanda is trying to find her footing being the main figure at her farm and really having to take over what her father left behind. She’s finding that filling those shoes is pretty daunting. I think the same goes for Derrick. He’s left this life behind of being an adventurous adrenaline junket and taking over this new path of being a pastor. And with that comes the challenge of letting go of what he thinks is important, which is the perception of how people see him. I think it’s the same with Amanda in a sense. The way they connect is he helps her come out of her shell. She kind of retreated inward, so after her father’s death, they both encourage each other in an honorable way. It’s kind of like the way warm weather encourages the flower. That whole metaphor of what happens when a bloom starts off. It’s tight and closed and then it opens up and blooms. That’s what we keep coming back to as a metaphor for the relationship. With the right kind of love, Amanda opens up and blooms. It’s the same way with Derrick. They both start off as being closed flowers with a lot of potential. With each other’s love and care, they reach their full bloom.

What was it like working with your co-star Aimee Teegarden?

She’s a sweetheart. She is very humble and down to earth and game for whatever. In all my movies that I do for Hallmark, I like to change a little bit of my dialogue so that my voice is kind of authentic in a way that’s true to who I am. It can be tricky to be my co-star during this time because it’s one thing last night, and then it’s a new thing this morning. I really appreciated her for that because this movie more than normal I kind of needed to find Derrick’s voice by tweaking dialogue.

An Easter Bloom, March 30, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel