he’s modest about the role she played, but as spring turned into summer, Alexandra Breckenridge became the unsung hero of two wildly successful shows. In April, there was the surprise return of fan-favorite, Sophie, to This is Us as the show said good-bye in its final season. More recently, there was the latest drop of Netflix’s wildly popular Virgin River—at one point, it dominated ratings for all streamers combined—where she stars as Mel, a big-city nurse looking for a fresh start in a small town. (Spoiler alert: Breckenridge is speaking to us live from Season 5 production.)
Sure, success is nice, but for the 40-year-old working mom it’s also a job—and one she’s been working quite hard at since she was a teenager and her family packed up from Connecticut and headed west to Los Angeles. “I can’t complain. I’m working on successful shows and that is all you can ask for in this industry,” she says. “But I do wish someone would tell me the secret to a little work-life balance!”
We recently interviewed Zibby Allen, your co-star, who said working on Virgin River is like summer camp. Do you enjoy it?
Ha! It’s fun. This season we have had the pleasure of starting earlier than we usually do. The weather has been absolutely amazing! I understand why people live in Vancouver now—it is absolutely stunning in the summertime. We’ve been shooting in the winter the last four seasons, but now we start to spend more time there in the summer; I got to experience a little bit more of the sites and amazing things to do in the city. Typically, it was so cold and wet. The winters could be so brutal…but now I’m like, “Oh wow. I get it now. I take this town.”
Your character, Mel, makes wet hair look good. What are some go-to glam items on-set?
The secret is the hair extensions. When we first did the haircut, I had blonde hair with dark roots. I saw the character as strawberry blond, with this long, flowing hair—like Amy Adams in Sharp Objects. I loved her hair so much in that show! Just gorgeous. That’s what we were going for originally, but I don’t have that kind of hair, so it’s hard to maintain it.
Typically, I get hair extensions and we keep doing the color over the season to get the right tone. It’s not easy. Sometimes, it just looks different even after post-production—the contrast is different, the root color can look heavy and dark. We’ve been working hard to dial that in as we get along. It’s funny how hair changes ever so slightly every now and then. I use Oribe products for styling and we use L’Oreal for my color. We use L’Oreal Professional between 9 and 9.3, which is strawberry blonde for my hair.
It sounds so minor, but I think it really does help get me into character—I had blonde hair over the break when I went to do This Is Us, so we had to change me back, and it felt like such a big transformation. I was like, “Oh, yes. This is Mel. I’m officially back into character from Sophie to Mel.” They’re both kind of similar characters, but they definitely have their differences. I think that the hair and the wardrobe help get all that across.
You’re also part of the original American Horror Story cast and you’ve always had very different characters. Are there any glam moments that really stuck with you?
Absolutely. When we were doing Dirt, I started that role as a blonde, but as the character evolved, she was trying to become like Lucy, Courteney Cox’s character. By the end of it, she had this dark hair. That never really went anywhere in the second season, but I thought it was an interesting story arc for the character. Hair is clearly big for me.
Then, obviously, American Horror Story [Breckenridge played Moira in Season 1 and then returned for two episodes in The Coven] was quite different for me, I’d never done that color before. The hairstyle and the very sexualized maid outfit really brought together this character, which I didn’t completely envision for her. Actually, I saw her with this flowy hair and just a light, cotton, summer dress or something—but Ryan Murphy’s had a different vision for Moira!
I was like, “Oh, wow, this is the direction we’re going with. Great.” It was the show where I was introduced to Clé de Peau foundation—and I haven’t stopped using it since. I take it with me to every set now, even if I’m guest-starring on something! I always bring it with me because I love what it does. Clé de Peau is owned by Shiseido and I love all Shiseido products. I’ve been using their under-eye patches, brightening masks, eye creams, everything. I’m thinking of switching most of my products over to the Shiseido line because it’s just magic on my face. I love their sunscreens—
