Hilarie Burton as
Peyton Sawyer Hilarie Ross Burton, born on July 1, 1982 in Sterling, Virginia, and grew up to be a homecoming queen during her senior year at Park View High School. She then moved on to attend New York University and Fordham University. She launched her career by working as a VJ on MTV's Total Request Live. She also had a minor part in the teen drama,
Dawson's Creek , which led her to appear in another teen drama, One Tree Hill, where she played Peyton Sawyer.
In talking about her transition into acting, she said, (as quoted from Hilarie-Burton.com), "I've never studied acting or anything because I've been so lucky with MTV. I'm convinced I got the chance to be on One Tree Hill because I did a guest thing on Dawson's Creek as myself, when the cast appeared at the MTV Beach House. And my only scene was with Chad Michael Murray. So, now the Chad and I are reunited. How bizarre is that?"
She added, “MTV has been incredibly supportive of my job at The WB. They told me to go for it! So, now I get to do both. I get to do One Tree Hill and TRL! It's the best of both worlds.”
Aside from acting, Burton also enjoys working backstage. In a May 2007 interview with TV Guide, she revealed, "I've actually started a production company [Southern Gothic Productions]. Right now we're in our fundraising period for a movie we want to shoot in Wilmington, because Wilmington really is such a gem. It's a great place to work, and to be able to exist in this business outside New York or L.A. is really exciting because you have a private life. I'm confident One Tree Hill is going to go on for at least one more year, if not two or three or four or whatever, but after that it would be really good to be self-sufficient and maintain a film community down here in Wilmington. So that's the goal I'm working towards."