Shantel Van Santen on 'One Tree Hill's' Finale & Her Journey On The Show!

Shantel works with 'Rally For Kids With Cancer'

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Actress Shantel Van Santen has been on a vibrant journey of growth these past two years both with herself and her character of Quinn James on One Tree Hill. In our final interview of the season, Shantel reflects on her experiences since joining the CW drama in 2009 and how they made her into the actress she is today. She talks about the fun moments, the challenging ones, the friendships and why she's so grateful for all of them! Shantel also tells fans what can be expected from the finale and shares what she will most take away from One Tree Hill.

If the series does end this year, fans of the show will have taken a lot away from Shantel as well. Her sincere and admirable qualities have led her to make a real difference in the lives of so many young women with her inspiring interview for the True Beauty campaign. At just 25 Shantel showed much courage and strength when she shared her story for the first time-and by doing so she gave strength to girls struggling by making them feel supported by her words. You know someone has touched lives when the feedback to their interview includes comments like 'being saved and changed for the better', and when parts of it are being quoted on girls mirrors at school! And that's exactly what Shantel Van Santen has done and just another thing in her life she expresses her true gratitude for her. In addition to the influence of One Tree Hill, Shantel talked about the impact the responses to her True Beauty interview had on her and why she's thankful for them every day!

We've talked about this but for all the girls who responded and whom you helped with your Team True Beauty interview, I wanted to briefly talk in here about the powerful feedback you've been receiving. Just a few days ago I received a message from a girl saying she wants to meet you so she can thank you for changing her life with your interview. You made such a profound impact by sharing your story.

Shantel- It's so amazing. I wish I could meet everybody. I wish I could go up to them and give everybody a hug that way they really knew me. I know when you read interviews that you feel supported in there, but I just feel so strongly that I wish everybody knew they're not alone, or they didn't have to feel that way. I'm not what defines beauty, or healthy, or skinny, I can only be what I am.

Your words really helped with them not feeling alone in their struggles. I still get emails and tweets about them re-reading it before school or after a bad day because they say it makes them feel more confident. It turns their day around. Like I told you before it's become like a 'go-to article' for girls to feel better with!

Shantel- It's incredible. I do hope to meet the people that it has made a difference to because it means so much to me. I didn't do it for anybody else and not even really for myself. I just felt it was the right thing to do. If I was going to speak out I would only want to speak out to somebody that I knew would take care of the story I was telling and my feelings about things. And I know that you did. And I appreciate it. If it wasn't for you that story would never be out there and those people would never feel like they had anybody that understood them. So thank you!

I'm so honored and that means so much to me. What is so cool is I was looking back at our past interviews, and in the first one from season seven you told me about the eighth grade paper you wrote in school about wanting to be a role model for others. And in the in-studio interview we did last summer, in the midst of talking about Quinn you still brought up wanting to inspire and touch people lives. So it was always there for you. I know it was always in your heart to help others. And now you're receiving messages from girls saying how much you inspired them and they're quoting you on their mirrors at school next to Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe! So wonderful!

Shantel- It's so amazing! It's all about those little things and it's all about reinforcing. I'm just so glad that it spoke to people. I really am. I'm glad every day. When you send me responses, I try to remember that it's about my heart and my soul. That's what it's about. And to keep doing the right thing with my life, that's what matters. It's not about whether or not I worked out today, or what I ate today, it's about the fact that I reached people and helped.

On to One Tree Hill, what can you say about what's ahead for the finale? I know you guys will find out very soon whether you will be back for another season or not.

Shantel- Schwahn had to write a finale that could go either way because we film far before they know. If it is the last episode ever I think he just wanted the fans to have closure. I know that the fans are used to big, dramatic, emotional and large circumstances happening but it's a quiet episode. It's more like the heartbeat that's behind everything. It's in the simple, small moments that you find the heart of this show. It's in the small things you say to one another. The moments that couples have, or sisters have, or some family members have. There's nothing huge that happens but I think that's only fair because if it is the last you wouldn't want to leave people hanging.

We're not Sex and the City! We won't be making a movie! (Laughs) As much fun as it would be to make a movie. You never know actually with Mark and everybody and especially with how many fans we still have.

Are you satisfied with the ending for Clay and Quinn if it is the series finale?

Shantel- At first I sat down with Mark and we kind of talked about what we thought was best. I think it's best for where Clay and Quinn have come from and where they are now. It just kind of makes sense. I actually don't expect everyone to agree with it. But I really love where the story ends if that's where it ends for us. And what's great is it ends in a place for everybody where I think that the fans will feel fulfilled, but there's still more story to tell if it isn't the end. It really is kind of a springboard for even more storytelling. It's not final. If it's the end Mark has always found a way to finish his stories well and if it isn't then it's going to be a really interesting season nine! The show will find itself in a different place than it ever has. Our lives are all going to be in a different place.

We just saw the Puerto Rico episode, how was that to film? It was a big Quinn episode.

Shantel- Puerto Rico was a blast. It's funny the episodes in the beginning of this season were very Clay and Quinn episodes just because of the way the finale was and they were storylines I could really sink my teeth into and use my emotional toolbox for. And I enjoyed them very much. Then after that it was a celebration of life and of a relationship that kind of found a new place for Clay and Quinn. How could you go through something like that and not want to live your life to the fullest? Especially with each other. It's one of those things where it's a game changer. You get shot, you both survive and you realize how much you love each other, and now you get to live your life to the fullest and you get to do the things you dream of. You get to be with the people who are most important. I think for Quinn she reflected back and realized how important her family was and how important love was to her.

She kind of was goofy! I loved doing all the fun, silly stuff that maybe to everybody else didn't necessarily have a true purpose or meaning, but it did because it showed that she was living life again. Having gone through a divorce, losing her mom, finding somebody she could confide in, falling in love with Clay, and then being shot; it was like every time she would get up something would bring her back down. And for once she got to be happy. And help other people. Help her sister through her pregnancy. Be there for Clay through his recovery. It was very selfless, where the first season Quinn was the one who needed more help.

So the Puerto Rico episode was the first time where it was Quinn's episode again and it kind of got to be about her. I thought it was important to see her working again and to see her passionate about something. She shot photos of the wedding and we spoke of a few other jobs that she had here and there but it was the first time I feel she got to love what she was doing again and she fell in love with the side of it that mattered the most: the heart and the soul of what she fell in love with doing a long time ago. I think it was important to show. And on top of it it got us all to Puerto Rico! It was kind of a fun girls Sex and the City feeling episode. We shot at the very end of everything. It was kind of a nice way to end the season.

What was the most challenging part of this season for you as an actress?

Shantel- The most challenging was all the emotional stuff at the beginning of the season. It was funny to come back to when you were so excited to be reunited with all your cast-mates and then to have such a heavy storyline, of course, is challenging and was challenging. But I always accept challenges. It's what I live for in acting. It's fun and it's great to do the comedy and the goofy stuff. That stuff kind of comes naturally because I'm a big goof-ball, but it's the emotional stuff that is so difficult because you make yourself so vulnerable. In episode three, the one where I was alive and he wasn't, we shot all of my work in one day in one hospital room. I don't think the tears ever stopped. That's always a challenge. Greg Prange directed that episode and Joe Davola directed the one before it, that was really emotional too, and they all I feel served such a great purpose for Clay and Quinn's relationship. It only deepened our relationship and our bond even more so I was more than willing to give everything that I could emotionally for the sake of their relationship.

Working with Rob [Buckley] on those kind of scenes is such a blessing because he knows about my life and I know about his and we're best friends so when we cry we're always there for each other after. It's not a process where it's like once you're done, you're like, "okay, I can stop crying!" You kind of feel bad after. We go home and we watch something funny, order Chinese food and we sit around and try to decompress from those kind of days. I'm grateful for them but they are the most challenging.

I think you and Rob did such a great job with all those emotional scenes early on.

Shantel- Thank you. We can't be good without each other. A scene is collaborative. It's never about one person. Even if Rob had his eyes closed when I was speaking to him, it would be him squeezing my hand in my closeup as I balled my eyes out. I could never be more grateful that I got to work with my best friend for two years. It's something that I really hold on to. Him and I have texted each other about what we feel about having a season nine and it's always like we're in this together. Hopefully they don't ever try to separate us! (Laughs) I think we'll probably protest. I'm so grateful for Rob and for Joy [Bethany Joy Galeotti]. Having friends like them, they've been a huge cornerstone and a huge foundation for me being able to flourish on the show and in that environment.

I think a popular scene that so many loved in the hospital was the monologue with Jamie while Quinn was in her coma. Jackson Brundage is such a little professional!

Shantel- He is. What's funny is while he was giving his monologue, obviously I was supposed to be in a coma, and when it was his coverage tears were streaming out of my eyes. I told them you have to do his coverage first because I'm going to cry even with my eyes closed. There's no way that I can't. Of course I did. (Laughs) But you'll see on the blooper real, I woke up and scared him right before the end of his scene. They're like “Jackson let's just do this one part one more time.” It wasn't the whole speech, it was the very end when he gives me the star. So he gave me the star and he reaches in to give me a kiss and I grabbed him and scared him! It was awesome! (Laughs) We get to mess with people a lot during the coma stuff.

What was the most fun part about this season?

Shantel- The most fun was all the great, awesome singing I got to do this season! (Laughs) It just so happens that Quinn's not good at anything. She's not good at singing. She's not good at dancing. She's good at photography and that's about it. (Laughs) I told Mark, you know Jana [Kramer] can sing, Joy can sing, everybody has these great qualities, and I can't really sing. I can't really dance. (Laughs) I eat Toaster Strudels a lot so all of that was fun! And I ate a lot of ice cream. (Laughs) And I got to be fake spray-tanned! Which was definitely a process to get off!

If the show does end, what will have been the most valuable thing for you from it? What will you most take away from your One Tree Hill experience?

Shantel- For me it's my friendships. I get to walk away with those. I also get to walk away with two years of experience on a TV show that has such a huge fan base. I feel grateful for having been a huge part of it for two years. I walk away so grateful to Mark for the stories that he has told through me and allowed me to share. And I always tell you that I hope that it inspires people and touches people. I've had people write me and tell me that they've struggled with their mom's death. I'm fortunate that my mom is still alive and I couldn't imagine how they feel. There's a part of me that didn't know how to play certain things but I so wanted for it to matter. For people to feel like they were never alone and for people to understand, or empathize, or sympathize with Quinn. That's why actors do what they do: is to tell stories and to inspire. To make people dream or to make people feel things. Being able to do that for two years of my life and work with people like Mark, and Rob, Joy, and Jackson; I couldn't be more grateful. I cried so much on our last day with Rob and I. It was so sad. We were shooting one of the last scenes that you ever see him and I in and once we finished the scene I just lost it. I hugged him and I sobbed and told him, "if this is our last scene ever together, I am so grateful for you."

I feel that I have friendships that I'll have for the rest of my life. I can't say that for a lot of my movies. I have a few friends that I've walked away with but nobody that I've worked with for two years and that you become so close to. It's very different in TV. I feel ultimately so blessed and grateful for everybody, for every experience, every episode and every relationship.

What did you learn most from your time on One Tree Hill?

Shantel- Honestly it was probably not to take myself so seriously. Because all the roles that I've had thus far in my life have been pretty serious. Mark allowed me to be goofy, and to not be afraid to be goofy, and silly, and do comedic stuff and to try different things. It's kind of like working in an acting class for two years of my life but it gets to be on TV and you get to work with different people. So for me it's just not to take myself so seriously. It sounds weird to say not take what you do seriously because I do take it seriously. It's the most important thing in my world. It's what I want to do forever. But just in a sense where I let things go now that I probably wouldn't have if it had been previous to this. To not hold onto me criticizing myself or me worrying that a scene didn't go well, and me being more trusting in everybody else that I work with. That's what it's about: letting go of some of the things that I fear, trusting other people and knowing that they have my best interest.

I feel like in TV you do get to grow more because you get many chances to evolve with your character. Where as in a film, it's like if you don't like it once it's out, there's nothing you can really do about it.

Shantel- Yes. TV is different. There's been so many things that I've learned. Even technical things that I've learned. Having only done movies before, TV was way different. I enjoy it very much. You have one character that you play for a long time and as I grow as a human being, Quinn gets to grow. I get to bring different things to my character and to the table. I remember at the beginning of the show when we shot those first three episodes, everybody was like, “Wow, you have grown so much as an actress.” And I think that also comes from growing as a person because when I'm not working it's my job to be in and learn life. Because at the end of the day I have to bring life to the table and play different aspects of life. It's important for me to always be constantly learning and challenging myself so that hopefully I can be a better actress for whatever character that I might play next.

Any final thoughts for your One Tree Hill fans?

Shantel- I want to tell the fans to keep trusting in Mark and in his stories. I know that every season and every episode is different and that the show has grown since season one. It is different now. The finale will speak for itself, and hopefully it's not a series finale and just a season finale. I want to thank the fans because they are the reason that we have the show. It's cool that they're not only interested in the show, but that they do follow us in real life. For everybody who supported me when I did my True Beauty interview, and when we do speak out and when we do charity events, know that we all notice. I appreciate it!

What would you like to say to the girls who were so positively affected by your True Beauty interview?

Shantel- I'm extremely thankful that I spoke out. I didn't realize how many people it would affect or touch. I hope that they hold in their hearts that they never have to feel alone, or feel that they're struggling by themselves, or that nobody understands them because everybody struggles. I still do. We're all in it together. If we all support and love one another, and find ways to do that, then our girl world will be better. And I'm grateful for all of the feedback because it reminds me daily to not be so hard on myself as well. Everybody needs reinforcement. Everybody needs encouragement.