Yahoo Finance Barbara Alyn Woods Had to Move In with a Cousin She 'Never Met' to Get Her One Tree Hill Role
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Barbara Alyn Woods will always hold a special place in the hearts of One 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 the Drama Queens podcast.
"The last thing I wanted was a full-time gig, but then this audition came up for One Tree Hill, and I said, 'I don't have time. I'm working and I don't have time,'" Woods recalls to her former costars Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton Morgan, and Bethany 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."
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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"
The Chucky actress has three daughters with husband John Lind, who are also budding actresses. Natalie, 22, has appeared in The Goldbergs and Big Sky, while Emily, 19, is known for her roles in Doctor Sleep, Netflix's The Babysitter movies and the recently-premiered Gossip Girl reboot. Alyvia has played a young Dolly Parton in the NBC made-for-TV movies Coat of Many Colors and Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, both executive produced by the country legend herself.
Listen to a sneak peek of the Drama Queens podcast below.
Hear Barbara Alyn Woods reminisce about One Tree Hill with hosts Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton Morgan, and Bethany Joy Lenz on this week's episode of the Drama Queens podcast, which drops Monday on iHeartRadio and all other platforms.
