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Peyton Sawyer
Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer is a fictional character from The WB/CW television series One Tree Hill and one of the female leads, portrayed by Hilarie Burton. A talented visual and musical artist, Peyton has a heavily guarded heart due to the number of lost loved ones in her life and, over the course of the series, she goes through a lot of life-changing events, difficult times and challenges. One of her character’s cores is her everlasting and complicated love story with the main male protagonist, Lucas Scott. She also shares a special bond with Brooke Davis, her best friend since childhood, and becomes close friends with Haley James too.
Wilmington Star described the character as having "blown away every stereotype the media has placed on cheerleaders", while PopMatters referred to her as "a walking contradiction."
Burton was one of the more prominent VJs on MTV for two years, with her looks and other onscreen activities acting as assets. She was the host of her own show, MTV's Hits, helped launch the network's Beach House from the New Jersey shore in May 2002 and was a regular on TRL. Her MTV VJ job allowed her to pursue other media career opportunities, and eventually led to her being cast as Peyton. Burton, who favored acting as a career, auditioned for the part of Ed Harris's daughter in the film Radio. She was encouraged by subsequent callbacks, but did not land the role. The casting department, however, remembered her and asked her to send an audition tape for One Tree Hill, and producers promised her a character that she "could sink her teeth into" – Peyton. "[Burton] is an old soul," said Mark Schwahn, the series' creator. "She's great. She's always just thrilled to do the job, even though she's kind of new to acting. She's just a joy to be around."
Burton said, "I've never studied acting or anything because I've been so lucky with MTV. I'm convinced I got the chance to be on One Tree Hill because I did a guest thing on Dawson's Creek as myself, when the cast appeared at the MTV Beach House." She added, "And my only scene was with Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott). So, now The Chad and I are reunited. How bizarre is that?" With regard to what her life is like as an actress, Burton said, "Actors like to think their lives are very difficult, but they're not. Yeah, you're running around a lot. But I used to work in a supermarket and in a bar. That was hard. This is fun."
Peyton has been described as beautiful, smart, fiercely independent, and as someone who is often a victim on the series. "My character is a good girl, but she is also kind of [sexually] suggestive. This is definitely not your mom's drama," said Burton. "She's very contradictory. Yes, she is a cheerleader, but she also goes home and listens to punk music. She's into really dark art and probably rips the heads off of Barbie dolls. Basically, she's a train wreck." Burton said the character may be "a train wreck" but that she was "so glad [that someone was] putting a girl like her on TV. You don't have to be one thing. Peyton has made that OK".
Burton said she herself was torn between cheerleading and hobbies which would not necessarily be considered hobbies of a cheerleader while in high school. "That's part of the reason I took the show, because I was like, holy cow, this was me in high school." Burton said there are always stereotypes in high school. "People get put into groups. "You're a jock, you're a cheerleader, you're a freak, you're in the drama department. I had a lot of trouble fitting into those groups when I was in high school because I wanted to be a part of all of them," she said. "I think that's how a lot of people are. Some people have the nerve to go ahead and branch out and be a part of everything and some people don't." She said One Tree Hill represents people who are multidimensional and who like more than one thing. "People do like more than one thing. It's nice that [One Tree Hill] shows that," she stated.
Burton said that portraying a younger age (16 at 21) was not a problem, except for one aspect: "My only concern was when I had to put on my cheerleading uniform again. You forget how nerve-racking that is – the vulnerability of wearing bloomers." She said she reread some of her journals from high school to get "into that place" as a high school student again, and that Peyton being similar to how she was in high school helped. "It also helped that the town where we film, Wilmington, isn't too different from the hometown where I grew up in Virginia. Both [are] small towns where high school sports played a big part," she stated.
Initially, the character was mixed-received: she came off as too angry and bitchy to some viewers. "At first, the audience rejected her character because, well, she was mean to our hero (Lucas)," said Schwann. "And she's pretty and popular." Burton stated, "She was catching a lot of flack. [People were saying], 'Oh, she's this cheerleader. She's like, you know, this cute little girl. She wants to be all hard and angry.'" Schwann decided to soften the character a little, which included having her bond with character Haley James, Lucas's best friend, and she eventually caught on with the audience. "[That was] our challenge, because she [was designed as, and became] the moral center of the show," said Schwahn.
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Peyton Sawyer
Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer is a fictional character from The WB/CW television series One Tree Hill and one of the female leads, portrayed by Hilarie Burton. A talented visual and musical artist, Peyton has a heavily guarded heart due to the number of lost loved ones in her life and, over the course of the series, she goes through a lot of life-changing events, difficult times and challenges. One of her character’s cores is her everlasting and complicated love story with the main male protagonist, Lucas Scott. She also shares a special bond with Brooke Davis, her best friend since childhood, and becomes close friends with Haley James too.
Wilmington Star described the character as having "blown away every stereotype the media has placed on cheerleaders", while PopMatters referred to her as "a walking contradiction."
Burton was one of the more prominent VJs on MTV for two years, with her looks and other onscreen activities acting as assets. She was the host of her own show, MTV's Hits, helped launch the network's Beach House from the New Jersey shore in May 2002 and was a regular on TRL. Her MTV VJ job allowed her to pursue other media career opportunities, and eventually led to her being cast as Peyton. Burton, who favored acting as a career, auditioned for the part of Ed Harris's daughter in the film Radio. She was encouraged by subsequent callbacks, but did not land the role. The casting department, however, remembered her and asked her to send an audition tape for One Tree Hill, and producers promised her a character that she "could sink her teeth into" – Peyton. "[Burton] is an old soul," said Mark Schwahn, the series' creator. "She's great. She's always just thrilled to do the job, even though she's kind of new to acting. She's just a joy to be around."
Burton said, "I've never studied acting or anything because I've been so lucky with MTV. I'm convinced I got the chance to be on One Tree Hill because I did a guest thing on Dawson's Creek as myself, when the cast appeared at the MTV Beach House." She added, "And my only scene was with Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott). So, now The Chad and I are reunited. How bizarre is that?" With regard to what her life is like as an actress, Burton said, "Actors like to think their lives are very difficult, but they're not. Yeah, you're running around a lot. But I used to work in a supermarket and in a bar. That was hard. This is fun."
Peyton has been described as beautiful, smart, fiercely independent, and as someone who is often a victim on the series. "My character is a good girl, but she is also kind of [sexually] suggestive. This is definitely not your mom's drama," said Burton. "She's very contradictory. Yes, she is a cheerleader, but she also goes home and listens to punk music. She's into really dark art and probably rips the heads off of Barbie dolls. Basically, she's a train wreck." Burton said the character may be "a train wreck" but that she was "so glad [that someone was] putting a girl like her on TV. You don't have to be one thing. Peyton has made that OK".
Burton said she herself was torn between cheerleading and hobbies which would not necessarily be considered hobbies of a cheerleader while in high school. "That's part of the reason I took the show, because I was like, holy cow, this was me in high school." Burton said there are always stereotypes in high school. "People get put into groups. "You're a jock, you're a cheerleader, you're a freak, you're in the drama department. I had a lot of trouble fitting into those groups when I was in high school because I wanted to be a part of all of them," she said. "I think that's how a lot of people are. Some people have the nerve to go ahead and branch out and be a part of everything and some people don't." She said One Tree Hill represents people who are multidimensional and who like more than one thing. "People do like more than one thing. It's nice that [One Tree Hill] shows that," she stated.
Burton said that portraying a younger age (16 at 21) was not a problem, except for one aspect: "My only concern was when I had to put on my cheerleading uniform again. You forget how nerve-racking that is – the vulnerability of wearing bloomers." She said she reread some of her journals from high school to get "into that place" as a high school student again, and that Peyton being similar to how she was in high school helped. "It also helped that the town where we film, Wilmington, isn't too different from the hometown where I grew up in Virginia. Both [are] small towns where high school sports played a big part," she stated.
Initially, the character was mixed-received: she came off as too angry and bitchy to some viewers. "At first, the audience rejected her character because, well, she was mean to our hero (Lucas)," said Schwann. "And she's pretty and popular." Burton stated, "She was catching a lot of flack. [People were saying], 'Oh, she's this cheerleader. She's like, you know, this cute little girl. She wants to be all hard and angry.'" Schwann decided to soften the character a little, which included having her bond with character Haley James, Lucas's best friend, and she eventually caught on with the audience. "[That was] our challenge, because she [was designed as, and became] the moral center of the show," said Schwahn.