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No one takes the show One Tree Hill more seriously than its stars Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton Morgan, and Bethany Joy Lenz – except maybe the fans! On their rewatch podcast Drama Queens, they break down each episode of their iconic 2000s-era teen drama, going over everything from character motivations and plot points to the performances, writing, and editing choices. They’re also not shy about sharing the real drama behind the scenes, detailing arguments with the producers over wardrobe and hair choices, the number of kissing scenes, and often the way their characters were portrayed. Even though they were barely older than teenagers themselves when they were making the show, all of them were fully aware that the 16-year-old audience the show was geared towards were modeling themselves on their characters.
That comes up in a big way in this episode, when Bethany’s character Haley reveals that she married her boyfriend Nathan (played by James Lafferty), even though neither of them has graduated high school yet. Sophia admits that her own younger cousin, “who was all-in on this show,” fell in love in high school and decided to get married very quickly. “She told me, ‘We’re going to be Nathan and Haley!’ and I was like oh no oh no oh no! We modeled this for her and now she’s doing it!” Sophia remembers. But the relationship has worked out for years, so who’s to say?
They praise Barbara Alyn Woods for being able to credibly deliver some truly bad lines, as well as James’s “earnest and steadfast” performance. Bethany particularly loved how Sophia and Hilarie’s scenes played out: “Brooke and Peyton, I was so enamored….We got to see your friendship the way it was when you were kids,” she tells them. “Everybody wanted a friend like that in high school.” They’re proud that they “won the fight” about not wearing bathing suits on the boat scene, and reveal that the skinny-dipping scene was “so unsexy:” They wore “bandeaus and nude, high-waisted granny panties” and since Hilarie can’t swim, they were crouching in knee-high water. “It was not a sexy day,” Hilarie laughs. Hear all their One Tree Hill opinions and reminiscences on this episode of Drama Queens.
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