Photo: Tibrina Hobson/Getty
Barbara Alyn Woodswill always hold a special place in the hearts ofOne Tree Hill’s devoted fans, who know her as mama bear Deb Scott.
The actress, 59, reveals how she almost didn’t get the role after auditioning “for this small arc” in PEOPLE’s exclusive sneak peek at Monday’s episode of theDrama Queenspodcast.
“The last thing I wanted was a full-time gig, but then this audition came up forOne Tree Hill, and I said, ‘I don’t have time. I’m working and I don’t have time,'” Woods recalls to her former costarsSophia Bush,Hilarie Burton Morgan, andBethany Joy Lenz. “Then I started reading it over lunch and fell in love with this beautifully-written monologue for this character, and I couldn’t let it go.”
Although she had a lot on her plate and couldn’t travel for an audition, Woods says she “just couldn’t get Deb out of my mind. I had not even seen the entire script. I just knew that it was beautifully written, this character.”
Woods later heard that she was “in the mix” for the project, which filmed entirely on location in Wilmington, North Carolina. “Then I heard that they were going local for the role, and I was pissed,” she explains.
“I told my agent that I’m going to find a relative who lives near North Carolina, and I’m going to be a local,” Woods continues. “And she said, ‘You can’t.’ I said, ‘No, I’m doing it. I’m going to do that.’ And I found a cousin who I’d never met, gave them my address and said, ‘I’m local.'”
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“They set up a meeting with Paul [Johansson, her onscreen husband] on the weekend, and it was just me. I came in, I read, and it was instant connection. And so, they hired me as a guest star local.”
Woods ended up playing Deb, mother of troubled high school athlete Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) and wife of the show’s antagonist Dan Scott (Johansson), for the first four seasons of the show, later returning for a few episodes in season 6. A fiercely loyal working mom with some skeletons in her closet, she became a beloved member of the cast over the years.
RELATED VIDEO: ‘One Tree Hill’ Stars Hilarie Burton, Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz on Their Longtime Friendship: “This Is What Real Sisterhood Is”
Listen to a sneak peek of theDrama Queenspodcast below.
Hear Barbara Alyn Woods reminisce aboutOne Tree Hillwith hosts Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton Morgan, and Bethany Joy Lenz on this week’s episode of theDrama Queenspodcast, which drops Monday on iHeartRadio and all other platforms.
source: people.com
