Bethany Joy Lenz and James Lafferty are staying mum about their possible involvement in a One Tree Hill revival.
Less than a month after reports surfaced that Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton Morgan were developing a sequel series at Netflix, two of the show’s original stars couldn’t confirm whether they are officially in.
“I am absolutely open to being a part of a revisiting to Tree Hill. But as far as this particular one, I don’t know. It’s so early,” Lenz, 43, told Variety in an interview published Monday, September 23. “I don’t know if it’s in pilot. I don’t know if it’s in series. I don’t know where it’s at.”
Lafferty, 39, explained that he’s currently focused on growing a show he recently created with fellow One Tree Hill costar Stephen Colletti.
“Personally, I’m blown away by the fans that make a conversation like this even possible,” he told the publication. “Professionally, I’m completely focused on finding Everyone is Doing Great Season 2 the right home. Until then, consider me grateful for this moment and cheering everyone on!”
One Tree Hill aired from 2003 to 2012 and featured Lenz and Lafferty in the roles of Haley and Nathan, respectively, dubbed Naley by longtime fans. They were the only couple who were part of the show for all nine seasons.
Although Lenz finds it “sweet” to hear that fans want to see Naley together again, she isn’t sure if the original group would still work after all these years.
“I don’t know,” she explained. “What I get out of people wanting to see Nathan and Haley is that the show meant so much to people. The characters meant so much to people. They feel so connected to their experience of us, it’s almost like we were friends they grew up with. They’re championing their friends and I just love that. It’s worth its weight in gold.”
Lafferty also expressed his gratitude for fans continuing to embrace the show more than a decade after its end.
“It’s been a defining aspect of my life to have contributed to the portrayal,” he said. “I will always embrace having had that experience, and it will always be an honor to know that people care.”
Over the weekend, Lenz and Lafferty joined Colletti, Bryan Greenberg, Paul Johansson, Barbara Alyn Woods, Moira Kelly, Craig Sheffer, Tyler Hilton, Antwon Tanner, Robbie Jones, Lee Norris, Shantel VanSanten and Cullen Moss for a charity basketball game.
Bush, 42, herself was also on hand for the weekend’s 21st anniversary celebration for One Tree Hill.
“It’s been in development for some time,” Bush previously said on her iHeartRadio “Drama Queens” podcast. “I think that’s all I can say.”
One actress who is interested in learning more about the revival is Jana Kramer.
In an exclusive interview with Luxury Handbag Shopping earlier this month, the actress — who played Alex Dupre — said she hoped her character could possibly meet Burton Morgan’s character, Peyton Sawyer, in the new series.
“It depends where Alex is at, and that’s up to them whether we come back or not,” she told Us. “We’ve briefly talked about it, so it would just depend where she’s at in her journey, like, if she’s on the self love discovery [track], or if she’s still a massive trainwreck, I don’t know. So that’s TBD.”
