Why Hope McCrea From Virgin River Looks So Familiar

The mayor and resident gossip of “Virgin River,” Hope McCrea, is nothing if not no-nonsense, outspoken, and opinionated. She’s a voice of reason in the small Northern California town (and sometimes an agent of chaos — just ask Doc). Although some fans are divided when it comes to the character’s presence in town, they can always credit her as the person who helped push Jack and Mel together.

Hope was missing as a physical presence during much of season 3 of the Netflix hit series due to Covid-19-related production measures which kept the actress from crossing the Canadian border in order to film (via Marie Claire). She’s going to be back for season four of the show, however, and she’s set to take on a whole host of new trials and tribulations, both personal and romantic.

Annette O’Toole started her career as a child actress, performing onstage and on television in the 1960s. Her very first television appearance was on local television program in Houston, Texas: “Don Mahoney and Jeanna Clare with Their Kiddie Troupers.” During a return visit to the show as a teenager (posted on YouTube), O’Toole recalled that she first performed on the show at the age of two-and a half, when she sang “Happy Birthday” to her grandfather.

Among the early roles she racked up during her first few years in the business included appearances on the hit sitcoms “My Three Sons” (her first credited role — she appeared on the show at the age of 15) and “The Partridge Family” ( pictured above). She acted in several of the most popular dramas of the day as well — “The Virginian,” “Mod Squad,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Rookies,” “S.W.A.T.,” “Policewoman,” and the original “Hawaii Five-O .” She scored the first of what would become many television movie roles with “The Girl Most Likely To…” in 1973. Bigger things were just around the corner.

‘Smile’-ing helped her to break through to greater success
O’Toole’s big break was the 1975 beauty pageant satire “Smile,” in which she portrayed Doria — aka Young American Miss. She followed up her part in the ensemble film by featuring in the 1977 romantic teen comedy “One On One,” opposite Robby Benson. She appeared as Sharon opposite Eric Roberts in the drama “King of the Gypsies” the next year, and the romantic comedy “Foolin’ Around” with Gary Busey in 1980.

O’Toole had three quite notable roles back-to-back-to-back from 1981 to 1982. First, she won critical acclaim for portraying Tammy Wynette in the television biopic “Stand by Your Man.” Then she took on the supporting sexual role of Alice Perrin in “Cat People,” an erotic thriller remake of the 1942 B-movie about a woman (Nastassja Kinski) whose awakening causes her to learn she’s one of a family of humans doomed to transform into a murderous leopard every time she has sex, and who can only transform back if she kills. Finally, O’Toole appeared as the female lead in the Eddie Murphy/Nick Nolte action-comedy hit “48 Hrs.,” in which she portrayed Elaine. There was another career peak just around the corner for the actress.

While the movie strongly hints that Lana will become a regular part of Superman’s orbit as the film franchise continues — she moves to Metropolis and becomes Perry White’s secretary at the end of the movie and seems to set up a triangle between herself, Clark and the barely- present-in-the-third-film Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) for future films — this will prove to be O’Toole’s only appearance in the Reeve version of the Superman mythos. “Superman III” underperformed at the box office (via Box Office Mojo) and met with critical disappointment (it holds a 30% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes), which caused the studio to go in a different direction for the franchise’s fourth film, scrapping many of the plots of “Superman III.”