It’s definitely been different coming from the film world and having done independents and features before. I was really intimidated coming into a television show, and especially one that’s been established for the last six years and is in it’s seventh season, and Mark Schwahn the creator and one of the writers as well, is a genius. He’s absolutely amazing at figuring out who you are in like the first 10 minutes and being able to write for you. He even re-wrote like different sides for me during the audition and I was like this is so much more me than the other ones were.

It feels like a really safe environment. I feel like I’ve found a place that you know, everybody’s like a big family.  There’s no drama and we’re all good with spending the next eight to nine months together and it’s kind of fun to have this character that you create, and every week I get to find out what’s going to happen to me. I know that I’m protected and that I’m safe because Mark’s just never going to do that to us. And the fan base is incredible. Like the people who are fans of this show are so into it, you know, and there’s like 30 or 40 of them every day that we shoot outside and wanting to take pictures with us. And I’ve never experienced that before. I know there’s a lot of fans of Final Destination, but I haven’t encountered them in the way that I have with One Tree Hill. I think it’s a show that speaks to everyone.

Here’s a brief interview with Shantel talking about One Tree Hill:

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