For Millennials. By Millennials.
Were you missing One Tree Hill? So were the main cast members Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy Lenz and Hilarie Burton! In order to reminisce over their collective time spent on ‘One Tree Hill’, the ladies are bringing the gang back together in their new ‘Drama Queens’ Podcast.
The show premiered in 2003 and ended in 2012. It followed the lives of a group of teenage friends who grow up together whilst fighting different battles and learning how to navigate through life. It starred Chad Michael Murray, Hilarie Burton, Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy Lenz and James Lafferty.
Related: Where Is The One Tree Hill Cast Now?
One Tree Hill was the most popular show at its peak, but behind the scenes, it had a lot of problems
Even though it was such a beloved show for the fans, things weren’t so great off-screen. Behind the scenes, the female cast members had endured multiple moments of harassment and inappropriate contact by the series creator, Mark Schwann. The main leads Burton, Bush and Lenz have all been vocal about the case in the media. Hilarie Burton detailed how she was sexually assaulted by Schwann during her time filming for OTH. And 18 female cast and crew members even wrote an open letter against the series creator that would often put them in uncomfortable and in appropriate situations while filming for One Tree Hill.
Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress. Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be. Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal. And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe. ”
Because of it, they all have mixed feelings about their time spent filming for the show.
But alas, it was a show that they found true friendships and opportunities for other projects in the industry. It’s also a show that made them a household name as millions of teens watched it over the years. In fact, the show revived its viewership when old millennials started to binge-watch it during quarantine. Hence, the ladies of the show came up with the ‘Drama Queens’ podcast.
The origin by the ‘Drama Queens’ Podcast
The ladies of OTH wanted to bring back great memories of the show and reclaim it. This time, they’re in charge. Sophia Bush shared how she realized that the show had magic in it.
“Quarantine hit and I was doom scrolling like everyone else. And the number of people who were posting about how in this really scary time at the start of the pandemic, they were starting One Tree Hill over again, really kind of hit me. I was like, this show has something magic about it. It feels really evergreen to so many people.”
Bush, who was also the podcast host of ‘Work in Progress’ is producing this podcast with Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz:
“So let’s be very clear that it feels great to be executive producing this podcast together. We’re like, ‘Oh, who’s in charge? We’re in charge.’ Yeah. It’s great. I love it. I love a reclamation.”
Bethany Joy Lenz added that even though they had bad feelings, they’re going to share everything they experienced on the show. From the good to the bad, fans will get to hear everything that went on behind One Tree Hill:
“We’re moving forward with where we are now, and looking back and reliving the memories. There’s going to be a lot of candid talk about what we experienced, but we’re not trying to be like Jerry Springer and trash everything. We loved our show. We love what we’re doing now.”
Moreover, Hilarie Burton added in that she’s really excited to take back what was theirs:
“I’m not putting anybody on the spot. That’s a person-by-person thing. But what I think is great and what I want to serve as an example is taking back work that is rightfully ours. We put in a lot of work as young people and we’re not responsible for the actions of other people. And so to reclaim that thing that’s ours and that we were excited about when we were 22, 23 years old is an empowering thing to do as a grownup lady now.”
The girls all shared that they don’t have full memories of the entire show, and most of it is a blur. But Burton “cried like a baby” when she first saw the pilot of One Tree Hill.
“I have no sense memory of filming [the pilot], but I cried after we watched it because I was like, ‘Oh my God, that little girl wants to be an actress so bad,’. And so I think us getting to spend some time with our younger selves in this tangible way, it’s cool. It’s not an experience that I thought I would get to have.”
The show’s main premise was with the estranged brothers Nathan (James Lafferty) and Lucas (Chad Michael Murray). They both competed with each other in basketball and to get the respect from their father. Moreover, the show was also greatly loved by millions of fans for its powerful female characters. Sophia Bush played the badass cheerleader with a soft heart, Brooke Davis. Hilarie Burton-Morgan played the cheerleader with a passion for music and art. And Bethany Joy Lens played a booksmart student, who tutored kids and had an incredible singing voice.
Suffice to say, fans would be pretty excited to see these girls get back together! Plus, we’ll get to see some great guest stars return to reminiscence their time on One Tree Hill.
