Sophia Bush is Into a 'Feminist Reclamation' of 'One Tree Hill'
"Never say never!"
One Tree Hill has been a favorite for millennials for years. The series—which ran from 2003 to 2006 on the WB, before that network became the CW, where the series finished its run from 2006 to 2012—was a major hit for teens of the era, and had a major impact on its stars, too. In ways good and bad.
Which is why, though we're not necessarily fans of reboots, we totally get why Sophia Bush and the women of the series are into returning to the show with a new twist.
"That was our show, and we deserve to reclaim it," Bush explained to E! at the premiere of her new film, Junction. "What might a feminist reclamation of our show look like?"
In 2017, Bush and 17 other female members of the series' cast and crew penned and signed an open letter in support of writer Audrey Wauchope and her accusations against the series and One Tree Hill creator/showrunner, Mark Schwahn.
But Wachope was not alone in her experiences on set with Schwahn, either: in the days after her tweets lit up the internet, series star Hilarie Burton Morgan also recounted her own experiences of harassment at the hands of Schwahn.
To reframe and re-contextualize the series—and its working environment—in this way would no doubt be an empowering for everyone involved, in many ways.
So what changed? Well, the One Tree Hill rewatch podcast Bush, along with costars Burton Morgan and Bethany Joy Lenz, started in June 2021, Drama Queens.
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"What I will say is that, I think for a long time our answer on that was a firm 'no,'" Bush explained. "We were really ready to put it to bed." But since starting the podcast, Bush noted that it "has brought us some joy, and I think it has changed our answer collectively from 'never' to 'never say never'!"
"Things change over time," she added.
As for where such a feminist reclamation could start? Bush also has ideas there. "I always joke that Brooke Davis running for class president changed the trajectory of her whole life. I'd like to see her in elected office. I'd really like to see her delivering an impassioned rant about what people really deserve."
Sounds appropriate, no?
Alicia Lutes is a freelance writer, essayist, journalist, humorist, and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. She has written extensively on culture, entertainment, the craft of comedy, and mental health. Her work has been featured in places such as Vulture, Playboy, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, MTV, Cosmopolitan, Rotten Tomatoes, Bustle, Longreads, and more. She was also the creator/former host of the web series Fangirling, and currently fosters every single dog she can.