Actress Hilarie Burton recently shared a poignant moment from her time filming the popular series One Tree Hill.
In a candid conversation on her podcast Drama Queens, Burton, known for her role as Peyton, reflected on a challenging scene that brought her to tears during production.
Recalling a particular sequence with co-star Chad Michael Murray, Burton described the emotional turmoil she faced while shooting a intimate scene that required her to undress Murray and kiss him along his body before unfastening his belt.
Despite Murray wearing a white tank top underneath his shirt to maintain modesty, Burton found the situation overwhelming.
The actress confided in her former castmates Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz about her discomfort, sharing that she set a boundary with the director by expressing her reluctance to perform more than three takes.
The pressure of the scene led Burton to retreat to her trailer in tears, feeling conflicted about the nature of the scene and its implications.
Expressing her distress, Burton questioned the moral aspect of acting in such scenes, likening it to a transactional experience.
She grappled with the idea of being paid to engage in intimate acts for entertainment, drawing parallels to the concept of performing for an audience, akin to a form of modern online content creation.
Reflecting on the overall tone of One Tree Hill, Burton critiqued the shift towards a more provocative narrative, attributing the change to the influence of another popular show, The O.C.
She recalled a time when the series was not marketed as a “s**y” teen drama, emphasizing her discomfort with the sudden shift towards heightened sensuality and teenage promiscuity in television storytelling.
Burton’s candid revelation sheds light on the challenges actors face when navigating intimate scenes and the blurred lines between performance and personal boundaries.
Her experience serves as a reminder of the complexities of portraying intimate moments on screen and the emotional toll it can take on performers.
Through her honesty, Burton sparks a conversation about the ethical considerations within the entertainment industry and the impact of external influences on creative decisions.
