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Sophia Bush:
Beauty, Brains and Talent
By Diane (Age 13, Canada)
Sophia in a photo session from the 2008 Toronto Film Festival! |
Beauty, brains and talent - Sophia Bush has it all. Sophia Anna Bush was born on July 8, 1982 in Pasadena, California as the only child to parents Charles and Maureen Bush. She made her first acting debut in a school theatre production while attending Westridge School for Girls, a small all-girls private school in her hometown. You'd think that such a talented young actress would have always loved acting, right? Guess again. "At first I was completely irritated…and I just thought it [joining the theatre club] was a major inconvenience. But I ended up loving it,”. From then on, she knew she wanted to be an actress. But she wouldn't let her new found passion get in the way of her education. "I loved school. I loved learning. I loved doing homework. All of my books and notebooks from high school are underlined and highlighted and there are notes all over the margins." She wasn't a complete school nerd though, "I was all over the place," says Sophia. She was on the volleyball team and was an active member of the theatre club.
Sophia as Brooke on "One Tree Hill", with costar Hilarie Burton (Peyton) |
During her senior year at Westridge, Sophia was crowned the Queen of the Tournament of Roses at Pasadena Rose Parade. Two years later, she made her first screen debut as Sally, a college student, in the comedy Van Wilder: Party Liason. She also attended the University of Southern California for three years where she took a Journalism major and a theatre minor. She was also a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. During this time, she auditioned for the role as Brooke Davis, a flirtatious and promiscuous teenager on the CW drama, "One Tree Hill" and found out a couple months later that she landed the role. Joining also meant she had to move from away from sunny SoCal to small town Wilmington, North Carolina. “It was nerve-wracking! I grew up in Los Angeles and I went to college there, so I’d never really left home." Sophia declares.
Sophia at the Golf Rocks RocknRoll Cabaret in Toronto |
When Sophia auditioned for "One Tree Hill", she knew she was up for a smaller role. But after a couple of episodes, fans began to create a loyal following making her one of the lead female roles. "She [Brooke] does everything on the planet that I would have never done in high school, I mean, I read the scripts and I think: I can’t do this! She’s a role model of what not to do!" explains Sophia. But as the season progressed, Sophia began to enjoy her character even more. "I get to experiment with a lot of looks with my character so that's really fun for me. It's like getting to paint a new canvas everyday." says of Brooke. Fortunetly, the show has been so popular it's had over one hundred episodes and it's even in its sixth season!
A candid of Sophia and Chad |
She would miss her education, family and friends but now that she had found her place in the world, she also found a guy she wanted to be with. Sophia began dating her "One Tree Hill" co-star, Chad Michael Murray also known as Lucas Scott. Two years after they started dating, Sophia was visiting Chad on the set of his film, House of Wax when Chad bent down on one knee and proposed. “I laid out 500 candles on a tennis court…the candles spelt out a message and I took Sophia up to the balcony of our 18th floor penthouse so that she could read what they said,” reveals Chad about the proposal. The pair married on April 16, 2005 in California. Unfortunetly, five months later, Sophia announced they were seperating and filed an annulment. "I can’t say that there are no hard feelings with Chad, I’m hurt, humiliated, and broken hearted… I never expected to be married more than once. Chad is going to be a great guy for somebody someday. But he is not the person for me and I’m not the person for him, and that’s okay,” reflects Sophia.
Sophia Bush |
Although the breakup hurt her, she wouldn't stand for being bitter. She knew she still wanted to get married again, have kids or even adopt. Age never mattered to her, as long as she was with the right guy. Now a lot of people ask how it feels to work with Chad after their breakup. "My job is my job, and my personal life is my personal life, and I keep them separate. It's my job. It's not always easy, but it's my work - it's what I love and take pride in, and I won't let that slack because of personal circumstances."
With John Tucker Must Die costar Jesse Metcalfe |
Other than her breakout role in "One Tree Hill", many know Sophia from the 2006 comedy, John Tucker Must Die as well as the 2007 horror, The Hitcher. John Tucker Must Die is centered on three revenge-seeking ex girlfriends on a plot to destroy the serial cheater John Tucker. In the film, Sophia even had to kiss co-star Brittany Snow! "It was so funny. Everybody was so nervous about it. We were just like, let's go for it. Let's make some people laugh. The boy who sees us kiss in the movie, genuinely freaked out the first time he saw it. He couldn't get his line out, and we lost it. It was hysterical." And what does she think about guys who act like John Tucker? "We've all known a John Tucker. We've either known one, dated one or our best friend has dated one." And for the Hitcher? Well, it's self explanitory. Never pick up strangers.
Sophia as Grace in The Hitcher. |
And when she isn't acting Sophia loves to hang out with her dogs, watch football and box! "I love boxing. There's something fierce about using your body's force that way." She is a very caring dog lover and is constantly trying to rescue dogs and at one point, she even had thirteen dogs living in her house! And did you know that when Sophia has spare time she works for the Annenberg TV News, a student news organization, as an Assignment Editor? She's always loved writing and is even considering writing a book one day!
It's clear that Sophia has made a great lifestyle for herself and thankfully she's sharing her amazing acting talent with the world. "I'm not a celebrity. I don't call myself a celebrity. I'm an actor." You can find Sophia in her upcoming movies, The Narrows as Kathy Popovich and Table for Three as Mary.
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