OTHWEB.net EXCLUSIVE!!
Interview with James Lafferty
May 9, 2006

Hi James, How are you?
Good, how you doin'?

Fans were shocked by the Season Finale, what were your thoughts when you first read the script?
When I first read the script of course it was surprise, I think everyone that read it was surprised. There were so many cliffhangers in that last episode and when we all read it, we thought it would be a great episode.

In the last moments Nathan tries to rescue Cooper and Rachel from the limo, but gets trapped himself. What was it like filming the scene underwater?
Oh, that was great. I've never shot anything underwater before that, but it was a great experience. We used a big water tank that was actually set in the ground of one of the stages. They put a bunch of car parts in there, and put some cameras underwater with special equipment. We all got to do a bunch of things we'd never done, so that was exciting .. it was a good day at work.

Which episode of the show have you enjoyed filming the most?
Umm, I would say the episode I enjoyed filming the most was, I believe our third to last episode. I can't remember ... it was the last episode with heavy basketball in it. [#320 - "Everyday Is A Sunday Evening"] We, myself and all the Ravens guys all trained really hard for that episode, and choreographed a lot of plays. Basically, it was our episode to kind of showcase the basketball side of the show -- that to me are the best days at work. When we get to just spend hours and hours on the court, pretty much just hanging out and running plays and stuff like that. So, I would say that was my favorite to shoot and also most tiring.

Why do you think Nathan & Haley [Naley] have become One Tree Hill's "super couple"?
I think Nathan & Haley... well [Mark] Schwahn always says that he had that sort of as an "ace in the hole" the entire time. As he was writing the pilot script he was planning on doing that, he really didn't know how it would pan out or what would happen. But, the fans have responded so passionately towards it, and I'm not really sure why. Ya know it seems like there's this genuine relationship there between the characters, and it started as something sort of based on betrayal and deceit. It then kind of transgressed over into something based on actual true love. So, I think that it's a transition that the fans really bought into, and I think that people really enjoy to watch.

Over the last three seasons we've seen two sides of Nathan, the sweet and rebellious. What mood is more exciting to portray?
More exciting? I would say the rebellious is more exciting to play, the mood that's a little bit more edgier. Nathan has a side of him that is not so pleasant, it's all rooted in his upbringing I think, having a father like Dan. That is a personality trait that I can't relate to so much in my personal life. So, I find it fun and challenging to sort of dig deep and bring it through to Nathan.

Which character would you like to see Nathan have more scenes/storylines with?
Personally, I'd love to do even more stuff with Paul Johansson. All the scenes with Paul are great, days working with him there's never a dull moment. Also, there's never any scenes between Nathan and Mouth. Ya know, Lee and I are good friends and we always talk about how we never get any scenes together. That would be nice to see.

When the show first started you were pretty young, how did you deal with being so far from your friends and family?
Well, it wasn't too bad actually. I was young, but I had still graduated from high school and whether I was going to do the show or go off to college, I was still going to be away from a lot of my friends and family. So, the transition wasn't too bad, I missed my family and I went home to see them a lot. It still smoothed over pretty easily to where by the time I got out here for the second season, I was ready to buy a house and set up my life out here.

We know the recent charity game was a success, can you tell us more about the cause you were playing for and how fans can still help out now?
We were basically playing for the community of Wilmington. There's a lot of non-profit organizations in Wilmington, just like in every other city that don't get a lot of help. They do great work for the community, like the Family Services’ Big Buddy Program, Children’s Museum of Wilmington and Wilmington Family YMCA. They really struggle financially, but the huge upside is they help the kids and their families. It's something I think that as a show we wanted to give back to the community as much as we could, because they're so great to us here. I would say if people wanted to learn something from that or continue along that same path, to take a look around you and where you are in your life. Look around at the people that are doing things that are selfless and see what you can do to help them.

All of you [the cast] are constantly doing promotional tours and appearances, is that something you'd like to continue if there is indeed a Season 4?
Absolutely, for how ever many seasons the show goes. I think that part of the reason that our show is so successful is because our cast and everyone involved with the show creatively have such a good relationship with the fans. There's no one on our cast that isn't willing to go out there and meet the fans or sign autographs. Our show has such a good bond, and line of communication with the fans. I think that's really been a strong point in our show, so I don't think we should stop that at all. It's our lifeline, sort of a trademark of One Tree Hill, and I don't see that going away if we have a season 4.

Do you ever search the web to see what fans are saying about you and the show?
No not really, I try to stay away from that.

Do you have any future projects such as movies or what not coming up that you could tell us about?
No. Ya know I always say in the off-season, as One Tree Hill has stopped shooting and we're waiting to find out if we have another season, I'm just another actor out there trying to get a job. That's pretty much what I'm doing right now, just reading scripts and trying to make things happen.

Thank you so much. We really appreciate you taking the time to do this interview.
Yea, no problem. Thank you, I appreciate it.
 

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