Bethany Joy Lenz

Bethany Joy Lenz (born April 2, 1981) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and filmmaker. She is known for her portrayal of Haley James Scott on The WB / The CW television drama One Tree Hill (2003–2012). She also starred as Michelle Bauer Santos on the CBS Daytime soap opera Guiding Light (1998-2000), and is recognized for her music as a solo artist and as a member of the band Everly. While on a trip to Los Angeles, Lenz landed her first professional job in a commercial for dolls from the teen drama series Swans Crossing. Lenz eventually went on to appear in commercials for Eggo Waffles, Dr Pepper and others. She continued to find work steadily as an actress, and by her second year in high school she landed the role of Linda Halleck in Stephen King's Thinner. She appeared in various pilots, commercials and films, and performed regional theatre until she was eventually cast as a series regular on Guiding Light. At the age of seventeen, Lenz played the teenage clone of Reva Shayne on the CBS Daytime soap opera Guiding Light for nine episodes. Her stint earned her such favorable reviews from viewers, critics, and Guiding Light executives alike that Lenz was eventually recast as Michelle Bauer Santos upon Rebecca Budig's exit. This unusual move was described as "unheard of" in the industry according to CBS producer Mickey Dwyer-Dobbin.[citation needed] In 1999, while working on Guiding Light, she graduated from Eastern Christian High School in New Jersey. She also landed the role of Rose Cronin in Mary and Rhoda, a made-for-television movie that reunited Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper as Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern. At the time Lenz juggled a heavy storyline, a television movie portraying Mary Tyler Moore's daughter, a one-year run of a New York cabaret called Foxy Ladies Love/Boogie 70's Explosion, and the lead role in an independent film. Lenz also filmed two pilots: one playing the daughter of Paul Sorvino, and the other as the lead in the WB's 1972.