Queen for a Day

Photo by Catherine Powell c/o North Carolina Azalea Festival

When BETHANY JOY LENZ returns to Wilmington this week as the 2025 Queen Azalea for the North Carolina Azalea Festival, it will be a homecoming of sorts. She is a familiar face to many Wilmingtonians, having played Haley James Scott on the teen drama One Tree Hill for the entirety of the show’s nine-year run.  

While Haley is the role that put Lenz on the map, she went on to appear in numerous TV shows and movies, including Dexter, Pearson, Grey’s Anatomy, So Cold the River, and the Asheville-shot Hallmark movie A Biltmore Christmas.

Lenz’s creativity knows no bounds. A singer-songwriter, she has released five solo albums. She hosts the OTH rewatch podcast Drama Queens with former co-stars SOPHIA BUSH, HILARIE BURTON, and ROBERT BUCKLEY. Lenz is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the broadsheet newspaper, Modern Vintage News, which is about “amplifying diverse human stories – across cultures, beliefs, and viewpoints.” 

Most recently, Lenz can now add New York Times bestselling-author to the list. In October, she published Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!). The book details her involvement in a Bible-study class, which she says morphed into a cult, while also starring in One Tree Hill.

WILMA recently spoke with Lenz about all things Wilmington, her thoughts on being Queen Azalea, and more.

What do you love most about Wilmington? 
 “The arts community and the community of people. The community of creativity is like the pulse of the city. There are so many different types of industry in North Carolina, but there is something for me about the community of creativity that fosters a sense of empathy and hearing each other’s stories. There is so much history there. Wilmington is a city of people who listen to each other’s stories. Whether people have so many differing beliefs, the arts are what bring people together and Wilmington is so thriving with the arts.”

What do you think about being the Queen Azalea for this year’s Azalea Festival?
“I’m thrilled and incredibly honored. After everything I experienced in my twenties, Wilmington has become a safe haven for me and a sense of home. To be able to come back and serve in this position now is an honor. Wilmington will always be the hometown that invited all of us in. I am grateful to serve in this capacity for a week, and it feels like part of my redemption story.”

What was the best part about working with the ensemble cast of One Tree Hill? 
“We were growing up together. The best part of working together was that we had such a long period of time to grow into a family – the inherited family that I got as a result of being on that show. Not just the cast, but the crew that I come back into town and have dinner with. That’s my family in so many ways.” 

Do you have a favorite story from your time filming here? 
“I missed my flight the night before we shot the wedding episode where the limo goes off the bridge (season 2, episode 13). That episode had everything you can imagine: massive water stunts, helicopters, a huge coordinated scene. I was scheduled to fly back to Wilmington from Atlanta the night before that big shoot, and my flight was delayed. If I wasn’t there (in Wilmington), they would have to reschedule the whole day. I went down to the rental car agency, found a desk that was open and asked the girl working there what time she gets off. I said, ‘I will pay you to drive me to Wilmington, North Carolina. I know this is so insane, this is the craziest thing ever, but what time do you get off work? I will pay you $1,000 to drive me to Wilmington, North Carolina.’ On the drive, which is like six hours, I looked around and realized I was in a car with strangers. So, I’m like, what did I just do? But I made it to Wilmington in time.”

Tell us more about your podcast Drama Queens. How did it get started and what types of stories do you tell? 
“Drama Queens was started to reclaim some of the harder, more difficult times that we experienced as cast members. We wanted to love our show, but we also had some really difficult experiences personally during that time in our lives, so it was hard to do conventions because of the personal associations we had with that time period in our lives. So, we decided to walk back through that time and talk about it. How do we take the good and hold on to that while acknowledging the things that were bad or difficult or unfair. I’m really grateful that we have had such a long run with it.”  

What are you working on currently?
“I’m working on rest. My book has exceeded my expectations, and I’m grateful for how it has affected people who have had similar experiences. It was a sprint, and I’m now taking time to rest and recuperate and find new inspirations. I’m taking time to write songs, have dinner with friends, and spend time with my daughter. I’m also the editor of a newspaper, Modern Vintage News, so I’m taking time to focus on that.”

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