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Barbara Alyn Woods joins her co-stars and “official” fan club, Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton Morgan, and Bethany Joy Lenz, on this episode of Drama Queens to talk about all things Deb Scott. Barbara is as much of a boss as Deb is about her career: She not only figured out a way to get hired on One Tree Hill when she thought they would go in another direction, but she also figured out ways to subtly encourage the wardrobe department to give Deb more flattering looks. The Queens are in awe of her moxie. Plus, she wasn’t afraid to bring parenting to the set; she had her three girls with her in her trailer throughout the series, and the cast would go play with them sometimes. “It always felt like family,” Sophia says. “It was so wholesome.”
Barbara was still nursing her second daughter and working a recurring guest spot on a TV show when she heard about the Deb Scott part. At first, she figured she didn’t have time for it, but she read a beautifully written monologue for Deb that she couldn’t get out of her head. Unfortunately, she heard they were trying to cast locally for the part – that is, get an actor in North Carolina, where the show would be shot. But Barbara was determined, so she found a cousin she had never met before who lived in North Carolina and provided her address to casting, saying, “I’m local.” Boom. She was in.
But like Sophia, Hilarie, and Joy, she often had arguments about her character’s look, though they went in the opposite direction. All the Queens have talked about how uncomfortable the over-sexualization of their characters made them, especially since they were such young and inexperienced actors at the time, but Barbara hated the tan slacks and “very beige” looks they kept putting Deb in. After all, she was a young mom, only 35 – the age the Queens are now, “and if someone put me in tan slacks, I would be mortified!” Hilarie says. Fortunately, there were plenty of Juicy Couture velour tracksuits to make up for the pleated shorts – and Barbara had some subtle tricks up her own sleeve, too. Hear all about how she brought comedy to her character, her advice for young actresses, the stuff Sophia stole from set for Hilarie, and much more One Tree Hill goodness on this episode of Drama Queens.
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