One Tree Hill ran for nine seasons from 2003 to 2012 on The CW. The teenage/young adult drama was popular during its original release and has remained popular even ten years later. The full series can be streamed on Hulu and HBO Max. The series centers around the lives of estranged half-brothers, their love of basketball, and the small town of Tree Hill, North Carolina. Over the course of the series, relationships are tested, hard topics are addressed, and good music is played giving audiences a show they can return to many times again.
A mini-reunion between the show’s three leading ladies has happened a few times as of late, including their joint podcast Drama Queens and on Sophia Bush’s new show Good Sam, which joins the list of excellent TV medical shows worth watching. TV shows seem to be the trend for the One Tree Hill cast as all of them have joined different new series since wrapping.
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Throughout the 187 episodes, many characters have been introduced. While there are a handful of cast members who have starred in over 50 episodes, there are only five that stand out as part of the main cast: Lucas, Nathan, Brooke, Peyton, and Haley. Let’s take a look at our core five and what they have done since One Tree Hill.
Chad Michael Murray
Photo from WB
After stealing the hearts of many as Lucas Scott, where is Chad Michael Murray today? Still stealing hearts, but this time through holiday films and a few TV shows. From starring as the teen heartthrob to becoming an action hero alongside Bruce Willis, Murray has appeared in some popular shows over the years since One Tree Hill. Most notably, Murray has started in recurring roles in hit TV shows Riverdale and Agent Carter. Film-wise, Murray can be seen in many Lifetime and Hallmark Original movies, especially the Christmas holiday specials. Later in 2022, his most recent movie, Fortress: Sniper’s Eye, is expected to drop. The film is the second in a trilogy of films that revolve around an ex-CIA agent, played by Bruce Willis.
James Lafferty
James Lafferty aka Nathan Scott, basketball player, and boy-toy made a name for himself in One Tree Hill. From starring in almost every episode of the nine seasons to directing four of them, Lafferty made the most of his time in the series. After wrapping, he went on to direct a handful of episodes of the TV show The Royals, which is actually where he met his fiancée, Alexandra Park. The two, along with fellow One Tree Hill costar Stephen Colletti, went on to produce and star in Everyone is Doing Great. Lafferty and Colletti wrote, edited, and directed the show as well. Lafferty also starred in a few episodes on the TV shows, The Haunting of Hill House and National Geographic’s The Right Stuff.
Sophia Bush
Sophia Bush got to play everyone’s favorite character Brooke Davis on the show. Between her loyalty, love of fashion, and good-hearted nature, it’s no surprise that Brooke’s character is close to Bush’s own personality. While she will always be remembered as B. Davis, Bush has gone on to star in a number of other hit TV shows, including the Chicago PD franchise, Hulu’s Love, Victor, and most recently in Good Sam, CBS’s newest medical drama. In 2021, Bush teamed up with costars Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz to create a podcast called Drama Queens.
Hilarie Burton
The CW
Since her time as the super edgy artist Peyton Sawyer, Hilarie Burton has added the title of author to her career. Her book The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock, and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm was released in 2020 and is an autobiography on her drastic life change from Hollywood actress to chopping wood and building chicken coops on a farm with her husband, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. As far as acting goes, she is still starring in TV shows like Bush’s Good Sam and alongside her husband in The Walking Dead. Recently after leaving One Tree Hill, she went on to star in a handful of Christmas movies with a few of her fellow former co-stars. A Christmas Wish reunited her with Tyler Hilton and Lee Norris and The Christmas Contract brought her back onscreen with Tyler Hilton, Danneel Ackles, Antwon Tanner, and Robert Buckley.
Bethany Joy Lenz
In One Tree Hill, Lenz played Haley James-Scott, an all-around badass mother and singer. Her love story with Nathan, played by Lafferty, was beautiful and set the standard for many young girls. Her character, who was not originally in the unaired pilot, ended up being in every episode in the series. Similar to some of her One Tree Hill friends, Lenz has also spent most of her time since the show starring in Hallmark and Christmas movies. She has also starred in her fair share of TV shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Colony, Dexter, and, most recently in Bush’s Good Sam. Lenz’s newest film is the horror-mystery, So Cold the River, set to hit select theaters on March 25, 2022.
