Um, WHAT!?
In Bethany Joy Lenz‘s new memoir Dinner for Vampires — which finally dropped on Tuesday — she revealed what an executive on One Tree Hill warned her the show was about before she booked the role! And it was a pretty NSFW version!
Related: Bethany Finally Addresses Sophia Bush & Hilarie Burton Feud!
The night before she was supposed to screen test for the show, the actress writes, she got a call from her manager relaying a message from an exec, saying:
“I have a direct quote that I’ve been asked to relay to you, to make sure you know exactly what you’re getting into before you sign this contract.”
How were they pitching the soapy teen drama?? The manager continued:
“You tell her this show is about f**king and sucking and if she’s gonna have a problem with that, she shouldn’t come in tomorrow.”
OMG!
The show could be sexy at times, but it was still on The WB (which turned into The CW)! There wasn’t even all that much sexual content, especially not compared to what was on cable channels like HBO! LOLz! What a wild way to put it!
We wonder if that was the exec trying to ward off someone whose spiritual sensibilities might be offended with each new script? However, despite having been raised Evangelical Christian and being in a religious cult at the time, Bethany wasn’t bothered by the blunt description, replying:
“Just tell him I understand what he’s saying. I’m not gonna try and stop them from writing about real teenagers. I believe in this show and I want to be a part of it.”
She explained she felt the show was “different from most bubble-gum TV with subliminal agendas” and didn’t want her career to be based solely on faith-based projects. Fair! She added:
“Grit didn’t scare me, and the One Tree Hill pilot had grit.”
And she felt pretty comfortable as Haley James Scott, who started as a bookish high school student, noting:
“I didn’t feel too at risk of being objectified. I believed in this show and its ability to send meaningful, uplifting messages to the audience.”
That said, it DID become a problem later on! As the show went on, she did push back at some of the “f**king and sucking” storylines. She explained:
“When I stood my ground as a matter of religious modesty, my manager would get a call, ‘She’s being difficult again. We told you what this show was about.’ And, in fairness, they did. The ‘f**king and sucking’ executive has been very clear about that. I guess I just looked at my character and figured that would be other people’s storylines.”
Oof.
Can’t say she wasn’t warned! It’s unclear who the executive was, but many of the OTH actresses have been candid about the appropriate way they were treated by creator Mark Schwahn. So we’re not surprised to see how some folks talked about the show! But wow! Reactions?? Sound OFF (below).
[Image via Warner Bros. Television/Hulu]
