Sophia Bush Says ‘One Tree Hill’ Reboot With ‘Feminist Reclamation’ Is Possible: ‘Never Say Never’
Sophia Bush thinks a return to Tree Hill could be in the cards — but with an updated twist.
“What I will say is I think for a long time our answer on that was a firm no, we were really ready to put it to bed,” Bush, 41, told E! News of a potential One Tree Hill reunion on Wednesday, January 24, at the premiere of her new film Junction. “And then with the girls and I deciding that that was our show and we deserve to reclaim it, now we’re like, ‘Well what would a feminist reclamation of our show look like?’”
Bush starred on One Tree Hill as Brooke Davis for nine seasons from 2003 to 2012. Nearly a decade later, the actress, along with costars Hilarie Burton Morgan and Bethany Joy Lenz, announced their rewatch podcast, 'Drama Queens," in June 2021. Taking an introspective look back at their time on the show is something Bush said has changed her perspective on a potential future reboot of the series.
“The podcast has brought us some joy and I think it has changed our answer collectively from ‘never’ to ‘never say never,’” she teased. “I don’t have any answers from you but things change over time.”
Rewinding One Tree Hill’s Most Iconic Moments: From Naley’s Rain Kisses to Lucas’ Love Triangle Woes
As for where Bush thinks her character would be today, the actress pointed to a specific season 2 story line that she thinks could be the launching point for Brooke’s current career.
“I always joke that, you know, Brooke Davis running for class president really changed the trajectory of her whole life,” she said. “I’d like to see her in elected office. I’d like to see her delivering an impassioned rant about what people deserve. I think that would really be up her alley.”
One Tree Hill, which initially aired on the WB and later the CW, was set in the fictional town of Tree Hill, North Carolina, and followed two estranged half-brothers Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan (James Lafferty) as they navigated sharing a town — and a basketball team — while dealing with their malicious father, Dan Scott (Paul Johansson).
While the series is beloved by fans, the show was often a tumultuous experience for its cast. The women of the series went public with harassment allegations against creator Mark Schwahn in 2017. While Schwahn never addressed the accusations, Bush previously shared that she, along with Morgan Burton, 41, and Lenz, 42, who portrayed Peyton Sawyer and Haley James Scott, respectively, started their podcast in order to reframe their experience on the show in an empowering way.
“The show itself is a thing that we have had all these mixed emotions about for so long,” Bush told Variety in 2021. “This is an opportunity for us to lean into everything that was good and we’re going to take back everything that should have been better. To be in that position of empathetic power feels really good. Because there was no one in power who showed us all that much empathy, and we want to do it differently.”
During an April 2023 episode of “Drama Queens,” the trio explained why they feel a responsibility to continue to speak about the harassment allegations.
“Until there’s some kind of change in our industry, I don’t know how we stop [speaking out],” Burton Morgan said. “The only reason that we made it out is because we had each other.”
‘One Tree Hill’ Cast: Where Are They Now?
While speaking to E! On Wednesday — where she joined OTH costars James Lafferty, Barbara Alyn Woods and Brian Greenberg on the red carpet — Bush noted that the thing she misses most about teen drama is her friends, noting that there is an “undeniability” about how special One Tree Hill is for fans and the cast alike.
“It’s the reason we are all here tonight,” she said. “It really gave us a family that feels like one in a million.”
