Hilarie Burton gushes about ‘female teamwork’ while working on One Tree Hill sequel with Sophia Bush for Netflix

Hilarie Burton revealed that her experience with the female-led team behind the One Tree Hill sequel already has been different than the original series.

‘What I can say is that this go-around, being able to work with a team of women and look at these stories [and] these characters through a female lens is something that — whether I was doing a reboot or a brand new show or a different movie at this phase in my life, female teamwork is something that is so vital to me,’ Hilarie, 42, recently told People.

Hilarie, who spoke to the outlet while promoting her partnership with Olly to launch their new Mellow Menopause supplements, is leading the reboot with her co-star Sophia Bush, 42.

‘It is the core of anything I’ve done that’s successful. So I’m excited to be able to team up with people that I look up to, people that I love dearly,’ she added.

Hilarie portrayed Peyton Sawyer for six seasons and said her perspective has been influencing the reboot.

Sophia played Hilarie’s onscreen best friend Brooke Davis, and they will both reprise their roles in the upcoming sequel on Netflix.

Hilarie said the news of the reboot being ‘leaked’ in August caught both her and Sophia by surprise.

‘The nicest thing is seeing the positive fan reaction to it and all of our friends from the show commenting on posts and just getting to show enthusiasm, because obviously we want Netflix to greenlight it,’ Hilarie said.

Sophia and Hilarie are also both executive producers for the One Tree Hill sequel.

The premise ‘takes place 20 years later following best friends Brooke and Peyton who are now parents to teens and facing challenges not unfamiliar to what they tackled in the original series like love, insecurities and grief,’ per Deadline.

The showrunner of the original series, Mark Schwahn, reportedly has no attachment to the reboot.

In 2017, one of the writers from the show, Audrey Wauchope, accused Schwahn of sexual harassment and emotional abuse.

Sophia, Hilarie and Bethany Joy Lenz supported Audrey’s claims, along with other actresses, female writers and crew that had worked on One Tree Hill.

Sophia and Hilarie, shown in a 2008 still, played best friends on the teen drama series

Lee Norris, Antwon Tanne , Sophia, Chad Michael Murray, Hilarie, James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Galeotti are shown in a season five promo for One Tree Hill

Sophia jumped on her Instagram page back in August to confirm the sequel

Back in 2021, Sophia claimed that he had hung photos of the female cast members in their underwear in his office.

One Tree Hill had a total of nine seasons, and began airing on WB in September 2003. The show eventually jumped to the CW to air the remaining seasons from 2006 through 2012.

Other stars that had been cast in the original series included Bethany Joy Lenz, Paul Johansson, Barry Corbin and also Moira Kelly.

Last year in September 2023, the show celebrated its 20th anniversary, with some cast members ringing in the special milestone. Later that same year, stars reunited on the original set to also celebrate the anniversary.