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Joy Lenz Details ‘Confusing’ Feelings While Filming ‘One Tree Hill,’ Recalls ‘Romantic’ Dream About James Lafferty

Bethany Joy Lenz Romantic Dream About James Lafferty One Tree Hill
The CW

Filming a teen drama means a lot of love scenes — which could lead to real-life romances. During the Monday, September 13, episode of the “Drama Queens” podcast, hosts Hilarie Burton, Sophia Bush and Joy Lenz answered a fan question about whether it was tough to separate personal feelings from character feelings while filming One Tree Hill.

Related: 'OTH' Podcast's Juiciest Revelations

“That’s why locationships start,” the Everly singer, 40, said during the episode.

Lenz, who starred as Haley James, the romantic interest of James Lafferty‘s Nathan Scott, for all nine seasons of the CW series, noted that it can get “confusing” filming so many romantic scenes with one person.

Bethany Joy Lenz James Lafferty Dream One Tree Hill
Bethany Joy Lenz and James Lafferty reunite in Paris in 2014. Courtesy of Bethany Joy Lenz/Instagram

“James and I always got on really well, but he was a lot younger than me. It just didn’t really occur to me to have personal, romantic feelings for him. But as the show went on and the more time we spent together, I would totally have, like, a romantic dream about him and wake up and be like, ‘Oh! Wow, that was interesting,'” the A Valentine’s Match star said. “We’re kissing all day! We’re, like, making out and being all lovey-dovey, of course it’s gonna work its way into your subconscious. But we never ever got together in real life and that’s, honestly, probably what kept the chemistry alive onscreen for so long.”

Bush, 39, noted that as actors, it’s their jobs to portray “real chemistry” no matter what.

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“I think, sometimes, it turns into something that’s actually real in real life. I will never get over Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling kissing at the MTV Awards,” the Chicago P.D. alum explained, noting that they’ve all had their own “versions of that” through the years. “I do think it is funny, man, to know sometimes who had amazing onscreen chemistry who actually hated each other. Or vice versa! … I’ve seen real-life couples try to act together and chemistry onscreen is so flat. I think nothing is funnier.”

Hilarie Burton Broke Down on One Tree Hill Set Over Sex Scene Prostitute
The CW

The activist was married to One Tree Hill costar Chad Michael Murray from 2005 to 2006. The two went on to continue working with each other for years.

Burton, for her part, had a different way of creating that chemistry with Murray, 40, as their characters were together for most of the series.

Related: 'One Tree Hill' Behind-the-Scenes Secrets and Drama Through the Years

“I feel like the more friction I have with someone off camera, the better it reads on camera. Everyone knows Chad and I, in season 1, were two butting heads. We didn’t necessarily agree on anything,” the Rural Diaries author, 39, said. “We grew to get along, but in season 1 — because our characters were so being thrust together — and I was aware of the [audience’s] want for it to be real. … I was overcompensating for that and so I’d be real sh–ty with Chad all the time.”

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