One Tree Hill's Shantel VanSanten reveals all on Quinn's journey & what's ahead for her this season!

Shantel VanSanten has a background modeling. In college she studied to be a photojournalist.

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Shantel VanSanten made quite the splash with her debut on One Tree Hill last season as Quinn James; free-spirited beautiful photographer running away from her past and moving to Tree Hill to further discover herself and her future. As we saw Quinn had a year full of new discoveries that took her down an interesting path of new love, loss, and just about everything in between which ultimately led her to have one of the most unexpected cliffhangers in One Tree Hill history! I had the pleasure of catching up with the always super-sweet VanSanten on set recently in the midst of her filming the aftermath to Quinn's final season seven scene that left her lying on the floor after being shot. 

VanSanten, who is of Norwegian-Dutch descent, says the name Shantel came from her mom wanting her to be called something unique. And that's exactly what you get with VanSanten. She comes across as someone who possesses a rare genuine spark and gratefulness about everything. Chatting with VanSanten it's easy to see just how appreciative and enthusiastic she is about her role and experiences with One Tree Hill; as she reflected back on her most cherished moments with Quinn, why she's so touched by fan reactions, and what she's most excited about with her storyline this season! 

What was your reaction when you first found out Quinn would be shot? 

Shantel-You know I read it and I called Mark [Schwahn] and I was like, 'are you getting rid of me? Is this it? This is how I go?' (Laughs) No he actually called me beforehand and was like 'okay I just want to let you know, we're going to shoot you'. And I'm like okay ha ha you're really funny. And he was like 'no really, we're going to and it's okay'. But it was such an unexpected thing. I watched the finale with my family and I didn't tell anybody. And when it happened they all looked me and were like 'oh my god! You're shot!' And I was like, 'well I have a job next season but I don't actually know what it entails so, yup there you go'. And even so, even if you have a contract they don't have to bring you back, so it was something where I was like are they going to bring me back for one episode and then am I dead, or am I just gone? So it was still nerve-wracking until we read a few of the scripts. It's a pretty amazing storyline. 

Mark wrote the first four or five scripts I think, and it's such a strong season. I feel that it feels like it's going to be the last season and everybody's so excited and so blessed that we have another season. And I feel like it's cool for everybody's characters because maybe it will bring more closure. But Mark has brought his A-game for the first five episodes on everybody's story lines. There's so much going on and so much to follow and every story is just so strong.

I know the buzz with the fans has been how Quinn getting shot, and Haley losing her mom has just been too much tragedy for the Scott/James family. 

Shantel- Yeah and it's funny because some people have said that to me. But anything is possible on this show. If anything maybe, you never know what circumstances are going to do to people and you never know what Mark's going to find in a situation that brings out something else in a different character. And sometimes it is a tremendous loss that makes you change your mind. Haley really struggled with depression and sometimes it maybe wouldn't push somebody further in depression. Maybe it would make them step up and make them realize that you can't mourn the loss and that you have to enjoy the moments in life that you do have with people. So I mean you never know. And the first few episodes are really hazy and you don't really know and it's all really confusing. It's going to be quite the ride for the fans. 

How does the shooting affect Quinn this season and everyone around her? 

Shantel-It obviously affects everybody's life tremendously. Eventually we're either found dead or half alive or you never know where a story could go. Especially on TV they can kind of do whatever they want and create whatever roles that they want. But it definitely affects everybody. Everything in Tree Hill kind of does, it's a small town. So when Brooke goes through something, or Haley, or Nathan, everybody feels that weight because everybody's close and it's kind of like a friendship and I think that's why people relate to it a lot. But it'll affect Quinn's life tremendously. Tremendously.

How do you prepare for your emotional scenes? You had a great amount of those last season. 

Shantel-Yeah there are a lot of those. You know I enjoy comedy so much. And I enjoyed the balance that they had me have last season and if I survive, I hope to have the same this season, of having those dramatic moments but then allowing the audience to see you happy as well. Happy and in love and having comedy and having a normal relationship because that's life. Life happens and you have the moments where everything is fine and fun and you never know when it's going to switch and turn and something bad happens or something dramatic happens. 

And for me I have always worked in a place where I pull so much from my own life. It's kind of why I wanted to be an actress. I looked at my life and thought I have so many stories to tell. It's a safe but vulnerable place. I can use my character and I can tell my stories and nobody has to know what exact story I'm telling or what I am using to find my emotion. Like the story could be about my boyfriend and me and I'm talking about my dad or my grandfather or my mom. And you just substitute out different situations and people and you try to relate to what other people might feel when they watch the scene. And it's the biggest fulfillment. I've received so many fan letters regarding the Lydia story line last season and people were just like you really helped me through things, you inspired me. I saved a few of them because they were so cool. It's the reason I do what I do, it's to inspire people, or to help people, to make them feel like they're not alone because you get to watch a show and you get to lose yourself.  I've been there and my character's there and we've all been in different places.

What do you hope for Quinn this season? 

Shantel-Well I would love for her and Clay to survive and be able to recover. I think that it gives you a new perspective and appreciation for life when you go through something that traumatic. And just for her to follow her heart as far as work goes. I'd also like to see Quinn and Clay have a little bit more fun. We always want to laugh more. (Laughs)

Fans on Twitter told me they just really want to see Quinn and Clay on the beach a lot. 

Shantel-I know they always want us on the beach! Which I'm totally happy with. I love shooting there. Unless we have, like in January we had to shoot a whole bunch of beach and pool stuff and it was freezing! But it was good preparation for going to Utah and being in a bikini so I couldn't complain. 
 

How is Quinn different this season? Last season when we first met her, she seemed a bit lost, and trying to find herself. How has she evolved this season? 

Shantel-Well every life experience changes you. So if Quinn recovers she's certainly going to grow and be changed from the experience. I remember when I started, I was like who in the hell is Quinn? Okay I can define who I think she is, but then people hand me stories and I realize little things about her and I'm like okay so she likes this and she likes to do this. Even styles of clothing change or make up changes. Like in the beginning for instance Quinn would often be very made up and stylish but over time we talked about moving away from that because Quinn seemed more down to earth to me.

I always find myself thinking more about Quinn, especially when you shoot TV and you don't shoot movies because you're so immersed in it and you play it so long that I find myself thinking, like I wonder what color Quinn would do? I know what color bed spread I like. What would Quinn like? (Laughs) And it's so funny somebody told me once if you wanted to find a character, consider how they would brush their teeth. Are they a quick scrubber? Do they just gargle? Do they brush their teeth once a day, six times a day? Do they floss? And it really makes you kind of think about it. It's just the little tiny things that maybe people don't notice but I own my character more when I do them.

Which One Tree Hill character do you find you most relate to? 

Shantel-Everybody wants to be Jamie because he's a kid. And I think everybody is a kid at heart. That's the safest answer, the part that's like “I'm like Jamie because I'm a kid at heart and we all are.” Everybody on the set is. I think that's why we all get along. But I think I am close to who my character is because so much of me goes into my character. I think there's also a part of me that I find in Joy's [Bethany Joy Galeotti] character, in Haley. The strength that she has and the nurturing part of her. I don't play the nurturing person, but I'm an older sibling and I've always taken care of my brother and sisters, so it's weird for me to be the older one and not be nurturing and not be the one that's the caretaker. So there's a part of me that feels like I understand Haley's character as well. And it's cool because I feel sometimes sisters do trade off those roles. Sometimes you need and sometimes you give and vice versa.

Looking back on season seven, which moment that you had with Quinn stands out most to you? 

Shantel-I have two. Looking back there was the episode where it's raining, where I show up at Clay's door and I ask him if I can come in because I'm struggling with something, and he tells me that I have to leave and he chases out to the car in the rain and sits in the car and tells me about his wife. I feel like it was such an important moment for their relationship, opening up to each other and building that trust and that friendship in order to be where Clay and Quinn are now. It was kind of like an overcoming, one of the biggest obstacles where she's opening up to another person. And those scenes there's like three of them and they're my favorite sequence and I still cry when I watch them. 

The finale episode was so much fun to shoot. All the episodes Mark writes are so much fun. There's so much energy in them and if there's not a lot of energy there's always the drama. And it was fun to prance around in the snow in a bathing suit. As nerve-wracking as it was, it's so funny. And I love doing the dancing sequence that I got to do and the comedy. I kind of got a little bit of everything last season.

What do you like to do most in Wilmington when you're not working? 

Shantel-Rob [Buckley] and I visit the comic book shop probably two times a week. At least. There are two of them, well the two of them that we go to that we found. I refuse to tell where they are because they have a very limited section and people might get the good stuff before I do. (Laughs) When I'm here I love just being out on the beach and just enjoying the peace working in a small town offers. The beaches here are a lot more quiet and the water is a lot warmer than California. I also love working out when I don’t have to work... probably because I love eating and Kilwin's home-made ice cream is one of my weaknesses!