Bethany Joy Lenz credits her “One Tree Hill” co-stars for being by her side while she attempted to return to regular life after spending 10 years in a cult.
Lenz, 42, who joined an undisclosed religious group after season one of the drama and left it in 2012, spoke about her co-star’s “sheer presence and professionalism and kindness” each day on set that helped with her transition into normalcy.
“They knew I was a smart person. I was a good actor. You can’t be a good actor without being smart. You can’t dissect a script without being able to assess things,” Lenz said on Tuesday’s episode of Southern Living’s “Biscuits & Jam” podcast.
“But I had a big blind spot in my life — and everybody does — and mine was something that I was going to have to work out on my own.”
Lenz continued that her castmates, which included Sophia Bush, James Lafferty, Lee Norris, and Chad Michael Murray, showed their support with small, yet impactful, gestures.
“I feel like a lot of the people there, whether consciously or subconsciously, knew that just their presence and being an encouragement and letting me know that they still loved and cared about me in spite of the fact that I was a little weird, that made a big difference. It made me feel like there was a safety.”
The “Royal Matchmaker” actress continued, “When it came time for me to leave that group, I did still feel like there were many open arms and that felt really, really good, and it was very helpful.”
Lenz is currently working on a book about cult experiences, which she hopes will be released next year.
On the podcast, she described her time in the group as “10 years of pretty intense mental, spiritual, financial abuse,” adding that it “can feel so overwhelming to come out of that and feel like, ‘I don’t even know where to start, I’m back at square one.'”
The Post has contacted reps for Lenz for comment.
“One Tree Hill” ran for nine seasons on the CW. It is available to stream on Hulu, Prime Video, and Max.