Exclusive: Hilarie Burton hints at a ‘female’-driven ‘One Tree Hill’ revival | Reboot

Hilarie Burton Morgan is opening up about her expertise on the One Tree Hill reboot is already completely different from filming the unique collection.

The actress, 42, tells PEOPLE how working with a female-led crew “this go-around” is proving to be a more healthy expertise for her than the unique collection was.

“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,” she says whereas discussing her partnership with Olly to launch their new Mellow Menopause dietary supplements. 

Burton continues of the reboot, which she and Sophia Bush are spearheading, “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.”

Burton, who performed Peyton Sawyer for six seasons on the hit teen drama collection, provides that the “stories” she needs to inform on this “phase” of her life “are very different than they were when I was 20,” and that perspective is influencing the reboot, too.

“That certainly affects how you tell stories,” she says.

Burton additionally mentioned the information of the reboot being “leaked” in August, which took each her and Bush, 42, abruptly. However, she says “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.”

Earlier this week, Bush, who performed Burton's onscreen BFF Brooke Davis, additionally talked in regards to the information getting leaked on her Drama Queens podcast.

“Do I wish that the news hadn't leaked before we could announce it was official? Sure. But if it happens, I will be so freaking proud, much like we said, that every single person gets to bring their expertise to the table now,” she stated.

Bush additionally revealed that conversations have been occurring relating to a potential reboot for “close to half a decade.”

“We've been able to all sort of divide and conquer in the coolest way. And those of us with TV producing experience are having some really exciting conversations,” she stated.

News of the reboot comes almost seven years after Burton and Bush have been among the many 18 former feminine solid and crew members who accused One Treel Hill creator Mark Schwahn of sexual harassment.

“Mark Schwahn's behavior over the duration of the filming of One Tree Hill was something of an ‘open secret,'” wrote the ladies within the letter in Nov. 2017. “Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress. Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be.”

“Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal,” they continued. “And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe. More than one woman on our show had her career trajectory threatened.”

Schwahn has by no means spoken about any of the allegations, however he was later faraway from his position as showrunner of E!'s The Royals after a group of 25 feminine solid and crew members on the collection launched a joint letter by which they claimed Schwahn “felt the inclination to abuse his power and influence in an environment where he had it over women who felt they did not.”

“This manifested itself in the repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members of cast and crew,” the letter stated.

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One Tree Hill will be streamed in full on Hulu and Max.