‘One Tree Hill’: What Ever Happened to Bethany Joy Lenz?
One Tree Hill ended its nine-season run a decade ago, and the stars have since moved on to other projects. Most notably, Sophia Bush (Brooke Davis) now leads the CBS medical drama Good Sam, where she plays the titular character.
Fans were recently treated to a mini One Tree Hill reunion when two of Bush’s former co-stars — and members of the original five — Hilarie Burton (Peyton Sawyer) and Bethany Joy Lenz (Haley James Scott) showed up on Good Sam as guest stars. Many have been following Burton’s career and personal life (she’s married to Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan) since One Tree Hill. But when it comes to Lenz, fans are wondering what she’s been up to since the CW series came to an end.
Bethany Joy Lenz starred as nice-girl-next-door Haley James Scott on ‘One Tree Hill’
Of the numerous regular and recurring cast members on One Tree Hill, Lenz was one of just three who starred on the series all nine seasons. The others were Bush and James Lafferty (Nathan Scott). Lenz’s character Haley was the perpetual nice-girl-next-door and best friend of Chad Michael Murray’s Lucas Scott. She eventually fell in love with Nathan.
But since the show wrapped, fans haven’t had many chances to see Lenz star in other projects. She popped up in a couple episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Grey’s Anatomy. Lenz has also starred in a few made-for-TV movies the past couple of years. And she had a few failed TV pilots.
One of Lenz’s failed TV pilots happened not long after One Tree Hill ended. In 2014, she was the lead in a pilot titled Songbyrd. It was loosely based on the life of songwriter Diane Warren, but it didn’t receive a series order. According to The List, Lenz believes that E! passed on it because the series was “too highbrow.”
What happened to Bethany Joy Lenz after Haley James Scott?
In addition to acting, Lenz has added writing and directing credits to her resume. She co-authored a 1920s era internet novel called Diamond Gothic with Abigail Spencer. She also directed a short film titled Somebody’s Mom. At the time, Lenz noted that there was “a serious lack of interesting material for women.”
“So — I’m writing my own. I’m also looking for more material to produce to create more jobs for women in my industry and lend my voice,” Lenz said.
The actor has also found time for her music and has recorded two more albums since going on tour while starring on One Tree Hill.
Could a ‘One Tree Hill’ reboot be in the works?
With all of the reboots of popular TV series showing up these days, many fans are wondering if One Tree Hill will get the same treatment. As of now, there are no reboot plans in development.
But Lenz says she would be all for it because fans have been clamoring for a reboot for years. She claims it hasn’t happened yet because it just didn’t feel right. But things have changed since the launch of the podcast Drama Queens, where they break down the series’ episodes.
“For the first time since we started Drama Queens — since we really have gone back to reclaim the bad experiences and remind ourselves of why we loved all the good experiences,” Lenz told MovieWeb about the possibility of a reboot.
She continued: “The podcast has done so much healing work for us that, now more than ever, we have started to envision what [a reboot] might look like for all of these characters. Because it’s our story to tell.”
All nine seasons of One Tree Hill are now streaming on HBO Max.
[Correction: An earlier version mixed up the characters of Nathan and Lucas.]
