How do the One Tree Hill cast members feel about the season five time jump? Find out here.
by Ana Walia | Wed, 06 Apr 2022 21:14:09 GMT
One Tree Hill. Image Source: HBO MAX

The stars of One Tree Hill have thoughts about the time jump as they returned for season five.

On the tenth anniversary of One Tree Hill, stars including Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, and Sophia Bush reflected upon their journeys along with taking a look back at the show’s most daring move, which was a five-year time jump for season five. Season five of One Tree Hill saw a sudden five-year gap after the group's graduation and sort of skipped their college days jumping off to their post-graduation life for the audience to witness.

Bethany Joy Lenz, who played Haley James Scott on the show, shared that she feels that the decision of the makers for the time jump was a brilliant idea and Sophia Bush, who played Brooke Davis on the show, agreed with her co-star and added that it was essential because, with the time jump, the characters were entering into an era where people would never know a group of friends who attended the same college. That sort of thing never happens now, maybe when our parents went to college so the shift felt like we were finally breaking free from the old, unworkable pattern.

Hilarie Burton, who played Peyton Sawyer on the show, shared that the shift in the story brought the actors closer to their own lives as everyone was trying to explore the conflicting emotions of being a person who is in their twenties and thinking that they have grown up, but they have not. She added that the shift in the storyline helped them to relate to their personal lives which helped them to grow. 

Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, and Sophia Bush. Image Source: Cinema Blend 

When the cast returned for season five, Bethany’s character Haley and James Lafferty, who played Nathan Scott, were married and were facing some major challenges in their marriage. The actress shared during the interview that she enjoyed being in a really unhappy, complicated space with her character and that both actors, Bethany and James, had an opportunity to do something for the show that they had not got the chance to do yet. So as an actor, she enjoyed the challenges Haley had added. The challenges the characters (Naley) faced in their marriage kind of took the audience on because people were invested in their love story. 

Explaining the same Sophia Bush said that when two characters are allowed to bring in their flaws, pain, and angst into a show, it comes out as very human emotion and very refreshing to witness, especially when those characters have always been above it. Sophia added that Haley and Nathan's storyline during season five was fun to watch. Sophia’s character, Brooke Davis, did not end season four on a happy note either, but the actress said that she loved showcasing Brooke’s vulnerable side to the audience before adding that her character was struggling with family stuff and that was hard, but it was nice to remind the audience to look behind the curtain at the person.

Bethany Joy Lenz and James Lafferty. Image Source: One Tree Hill Wiki 

Sophia Bush further mentioned that when the cast returned for season five and was told that there was a time jump, there was a certain mystery to the characters that the audience, including them, got to unravel their stories via flashbacks, which was super fun to film. Hilarie Burton’s charter, Peyton, had broken up due to a premature proposal from Lucas, about which the actress said that she enjoyed and appreciated the realism of her character coming back from the time jump. She added that taking a break from that relationship was the right thing to do for the characters, but Lucas, who was played by Chad Michael Murray, did not agree and broke off with Peyton.

Even though Peyton and Lucas found their way back to each other, Hilarie says that it felt so much better to play adults on-screen and not teenagers who were put in an adult situation.

One Tree Hill is an American drama television series created by Mark Schwahn that premiered initially on The WB in 2003, but after three seasons, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW, the series was broadcast by The CW. The finale episode of One Tree Hill aired in 2012. The series follows the lives of two half-brothers, Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty, and how their lives evolved around basketball and the drama that comes along in their lives as a courtesy of their romantic relationships, respectively. 

Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, and Sophia Bush for an episode on Good Sam. Image Source: EW 

The actress were among many women who signed the letter in support of writer Audrey Wauchope who went ahead to detail her negative and traumatic experience while working with the show's creator Mark Schwahn. The actresses stated in an interview that they decided not to speak about their experience publicly because they did not want to break people's hearts and the letter they signed stated that many women who worked on the show are still under treatment for post-traumatic stress.

The three strong women Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, and Sophia Bush stated that throughout their working together on the show, they have been able to form a friendship as a unit that has helped them to reclaim so much of what was good and enjoyable about working on a successful show while ignoring and moving ahead with their lives and taking out the respective trash from the past.

Hilarie Burton in an interview mentioned that after waiting for a long time to hear an apology from the people who treated her bad on the sets, she does not need it anymore because the silence has spoken and they all have grown so much and are in such a better place than she could have imagined. The three actresses reunited for an episode on Sophia Bush's medical drama show, 'Good Sam'. 

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