One Tree Hill's Robert Buckley Reveals His Favorite Guest Star — and It's Not Who You'd Expect

Mar. 15, 2025

Robert Buckley on ‘One Tree Hill’.Photo:Fred Norris/The CW/Courtesy Everett

Fred Norris/The CW/Courtesy Everett

Drama series don’t often feature all-star athletes, but when they do, it’s pretty memorable.

On the Nov. 7 episode of theDrama Queenspodcast titled “One Tree Thrill,” formerOne Tree HillstarsSophia Bush,Bethany Joy Lenzand Robert Buckley answered questions about the beloved series from fans. The first question asked who their favorite guest stars were.

“Favorite in nine years?” Bush, 42, asked. Lenz, 43, decided to limit their answers. “It has to be a guest star. It can’t be recurring. Like a true guest star,” she said. Lenz first picked Gerald McRaney, known for shows likeSimon & SimonandMajor Dad. He also had a recurring role onThis Is Us.

Bush flouted Lenz’s limit and picked Daphne Zuniga, who played her on-screen mom Victoria Davis beginning in season 5. She began as a guest star and “then we kept her forever,” Bush said.

Lenz next picked Sharon Lawrence, who played the mom of Austin Nichols’ Julian in season 8. Buckley, 43, selected Amanda Schull, who played two different characters involved with his character, Clay. She played both the spirit of his dead wife, Sara, and a new love interest who “looked like” Sara, named Katie.

Jerry Rice in 2024.Rob Kim/Getty

Rob Kim/Getty

But then, he explained, if he had to pick a “proper, tried and true guest star” it would be …Jerry Rice. “Because he was Jerry Rice and he also was really good at acting and so his stuff is all funny,” Buckley explained. Bush said Buckley won “the gold” for that answer.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Back in September, news broke thatBush and Hilarie Burton were developingaOne Tree Hillsequel seriesset 20 years after the end of the series. “What if you really can go back home?” they wrote on Instagram at the time. “If there’s an opportunity to team with brilliant creatives and build a space where all our friends can show off their talents? Own our history? Reclaim our turf? Honor our fans? Sign us up.”

Hilarie Burton (left) and Sophia Bush in 2024.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

The series will follow Bush’s Brooke and Burton’s Peyton as they are “now parents to teens and facing challenges not unfamiliar to what they tackled in the original series like love, insecurities and grief.” It’s not yet known which other characters will return.

One Tree Hillaired for nine seasons, from 2003 to 2012. It began on The WB and continued on the network’s successor, The CW, in 2006.

source: people.com