Quality time with Mark Schwahn and the “One Tree Hill” crew. That’s what I got when I spotted Sophia Bush and the series’ creator hanging with new cast members, Robert Buckley, Shantel VanSanten and Austin Nichols at a CW party a couple weeks back.
While the boys pitched a bromance for their characters, I talked with Mark and the girls about season 7, including what it’s like on set without Hilarie Burton and Chad Michael Murray.
Austin is pretty. Please tell me Brooke is going to be happy this season.
Sophia Bush: Brooke has been unhappy for so long, she deserves a little joy in her life.
And Julian (Nichols) is going to make that happen?
S.B.: Well, there are issues for everybody. One of the things that we have to deal with in our relationship is the distance and, you know, you’re in your late 20s and, is this it or is it not? They’re very real questions that everybody asks themselves at that age point, but it’s really fun and there is a lot of love between [Brooke and Julian]. It’s very cool.
Will Sam (Ashley Rickards) be back as Brooke’s foster kid?
S.B.: I don’t believe so.
So, is Brooke still longing for a child?
S.B.: That doesn’t go away. That doesn’t go away at all. Brooke is very maternal with everyone in her life and she wants that, she wants a family.
You guys have been working on this next season for a while now. Is it weird not having Hilarie and Chad around after six years with them?
S.B.: You know, it’s different, but it doesn’t feel strange. Actually, it feels pretty amazing to go to work every day and we’re so lucky to have these new cast members and everybody else is still around. You know, it’s Rob and Shantel and Austin and we still have Lisa [Goldstein (Millicent)] and Antwon [Tanner (Skills)] and Allison [Munn (Lauren)] and Lee Norris (Mouth) and Jackson [Brundage (Jamie)] is obviously still there, Jana Kramer is working with us for a while and she’s amazing, so many wonderful people. So it doesn’t feel empty whatsoever. It’s a full house and everybody’s laughing on set all day and the energy is really incredible.
And Daphne Zuniga’s back as your mother, Victoria. Will she be around regularly?
S.B.: I don’t know what her schedule is, I know she’s also working on “Melrose Place,” so we sort of have to work around both shows, but she’s a big fixture in Brooke’s life.
I’m assuming we’ll see more of a sympathetic side to Victoria this year?
S.B.: We’ll see! I mean, she’s always going to be Victoria. But the closeness has been established between us and that’s a really fun thing to play. We’re buddies but she’s still kind of a bitch!
Mark Schwahn: I also think she can be a bitch more now, because we’ve seen her be kind. You know, we’ve seen that she has a heart. We know that she’s protective of Brooke. So now when she’s bitchy, it’s like, yeah but she can also be sweet.
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Bush, an only child, was born and raised in Pasadena, California to Charles William Bush, an advertising and celebrity photographer, and Maureen, a photography studio manager. Bush has Italian ancestry, and attended Westridge School for Girls (Pasadena), as well as the University of Southern California. She was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, where she served as Social Chair. continue
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