The 'Lethal Weapon' actress is grateful to former 'One Tree Hill' co-star for 'saving her life' by encouraging her to quit the television show when she confided in her.
- October 27, 2021
AceShowbiz - Hilarie Burton has credited "One Tree Hill" co-star Moira Kelly for "saving (her) life" by encouraging her to leave the show after six seasons.
Moira, who starred as Chad Michael Murray's mum Karen in the show, appeared on Hilarie, Sophia Bush, and Bethany Joy Lenz's podcast "Drama Queens" on Monday (25Oct21).
As they reminisced about their time on the much-loved teen series, Hilarie revealed the impact Moira had had on her life and her decision to leave the programme in 2009.
"I was like, 'I don't know what to do,' and you said, 'Run,' " recalled Hilarie. "You started it off with, like, a joke, and I was like, 'Yeah?' You said to me, 'There's so many chapters in life and this is just one. This is just one.' "
"I so valued your opinion of me and of our business and the way you prioritised your family over work, and that's what I wanted - what you had is what I wanted. You didn't have to say anything because you lived it and we could just, like, see it… I have wanted to thank you for that, honestly, since I was 26 years old."
Hilarie shares 11-year-old son Gus and three-year-old daughter George with her actor husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and explained that her life could have turned out a lot differently had she stayed on "One Tree Hill".
"It's like, 'Oh, my God. You don't know that you saved my life,' " she told Moira. "I don't know what would have happened to me if I stayed," Burton later said. "I met my husband. My son exists because Moira Kelly told me to run. And so I did. I just think about how different my life would be if she wasn't that one person to give me permission to just go."
While Hilary credited her for giving her the strength to quit the show, Moira told her former co-stars that she would have taken a stand against the inappropriate behaviour allegedly experienced by the women on the set, particularly from show creator Mark Schwahn.
"I felt like, you know, being somewhat of a veteran, you were all so very young coming into this situation, there's a part of me that feels like I let you all down," she admitted.
"If I had been more present, I would have been more aware maybe of what was going on, I surely would have said something. I surely would have done something, and so, if I could go back and do anything different, I would make my presence so solid on that show and I would have made myself so available to all of you."
