Ode to Joy
by Bonnie Siegler

December 2005 / Bergen Health & Life Magazine

WB Starlet and Former Waldick resident Bethany Joy Lenz recalls her favorite local haunts and the high school teacher who inspired her.

You'll never catch Bethany Joy Lenz with a copy of What Color is Your Parachute? The actress, best know for her role as Haley James on the WB's hit drama One Tree Hill, has always known that her career would lie in the arts. "I just knew that's what I was supposed to do with my life ever since I was a kid" she says. "It's been a struggle at times, but I've enjoyed it all."

In truth, the closet Lenz has come to an occupational crisis is deciding with artistic discipline to pursue. While TV audiences might recognize her as Michelle Bauer from Guiding Light or from her current WB gig, the 24-year-old is actually accomplished in a variety of fields: Trained by the director of The Brooklyn College of Opera, Lenz can sing, play guitar and piano and compose music. She released the limited CD Preincarnate in 2002 and recently signed a recording contract with Epic Records. Life imitated art when, mirroring a plotline on the show, she joined One Tree Hill castmate Tyler Hilton and singers Michelle Branch and Gavin DeGraw on a 23-city tour this past summer. The outing was dream come true. "Music is my first love," she beams. "I sang in the very first episode of the show."

Born in Florida, Lenz and her family moved to Texas four years later, where they lived until she was 13. During that time Lenz first began acting, appearing in community theater and commercials. After both her parents got job offers in Bergen County, Lenz landed in Waldwick. "My father grew up in Waldwick," she says. "So when my grandmother passed away, he inherited the house on Hudson Avenue and we all moved into his childhood home."

It was at Eastern Christian High School in North Haledon, where Lenz was voted Best Thespian in 1999's graduating class, that her creative side was sparked by Mr. Apol, her Western Civics teacher. "He appreciated the fact that you can't put all students into one mold." she recalls, "and allowed me to be who I am while still helping me organize my academic thoughts." Instead of completing standard assignments on Benjamin Franklin and electricity, for instance, Lenz was encouraged to write a mini-play about Franklin's electrical theories.

When asked if, during those high school days, she knew anyone like Haley James, Lenz concedes, "I think I was probably a lot like her. She's a real piss-and-vinegar girl - sassy, funny and smart but at the same time, she's really insecure and doesn't know who she is. She wants to be liked by everybody. I can relate to her on that level."

Of those high school days, Lenz cheerfully recalls strolling with friends around Ridgewood, where they would buy Haagen Dazs, get their hair done at Panico Salon or sip Starbucks Carmel Frappuccinos. "I remember when I first moved to Los Angeles, just before 9/11," she says, "I missed Joe's Malibu Kitchen in Ridgewood so much. He makes the best quesadillas. I actually called him from Los Angeles and pleaded with him for the recipe - and he gave it to me!"

Lenz now splits her time between her new purchased home in Washington State and an apartment in Wilmington, N.C., where One Tree Hill films. Looking back, she says she's not the same person who graduated from Eastern Christian six year ago. "I've become much more peaceful, much more settled. I know more of who I am. I feel really blessed and grateful that I've been given the opportunity to grow."

So in which direction would she to grow from her? If the stars aligned, she'd hope to settle into a career in musical theater. "Music reaches down inside of me - much deeper than playing a scene," she notes. "I've often said I wish my life were a musical." And if it was? Lenz pauses, the says, "I'd title it Life is Good."'

source: Joie Luck Club