Shantel VanSanten ended the last decade with quite a bang; she starred in the blockbuster hit The Final Destination, and landed a permanent role on the CW's hit drama, One Tree Hill. Yet the beautiful 24 year-old clearly hasn't let her instant success get to her head. Interviewing VanSanten one can easily forget they're working and not just having an interesting conversation with the kind and funny Texas native. It was clear to see during our chat not only is VanSanten dedicated to her craft, she is also dedicated to being someone young women everywhere can relate to; and those two qualities will lead people to talk about Shantel VanSanten for a very long time.
What was your background before acting?
Shantel-I was a model. That was before I discovered how awesome hamburgers were!(laughs) I modeled from the time I was 15 until I was 20. When I moved out to LA I kind of stopped. That whole world is way more toxic than they need it to be in Los Angeles. But when I lived in Texas it's you know what kept me up float ,and kept me in acting classes, and helped. I was really fortunate to be able to model for the time being.
How did you make the transition from modeling to acting?
Shantel-I actually had an agency in Texas that told me you should take a few commercial classes or some theater classes, and I'd been in theater before but you know never had like this huge character role to play. And so I started taking these acting classes and I just fell in love and I never knew that I could make like a career out of it or this is something I can do for the rest of my life. I always felt like this is fun and it was great. I was in college at the time and you know I wanted to be a journalist. I was going to school to do that, and then it just kind of all fell into place for me. And there's days I wake up and I feel like I have to pinch myself because I can't believe I get to do this for a career.
You said you wanted to be a journalist, is that what you would be doing if you weren't acting?
Shantel-I was going to school for photojournalism. I thought that I wanted to travel to foreign countries, and my problem was that I only really wanted to write about things that I truly cared about. And I thought I wanted to travel where there's like foreign crisis's and make people aware of it. So that was something that was kind of where my life was headed I guess.
It's funny when I was in the eighth grade my mom told me that she still saved a paper I wrote for like a graduation I guess, like where do you wanna be when you grow up, and I wrote this huge long paper about how I had no idea what I was gonna do with my life, no idea what I was gonna be, but that I wanted to make a difference and touch even if it was like one person's life. Like inspire them and it's cool because there's times when I feel like what I do really can reach people and does reach people. And being on a television show and having so many fans is something that I've never experienced before and it's really neat when they come up to you and are like you know that storyline is amazing and really happened to me and really spoke to me in my life, and it's really cool. I really enjoy it.
One Tree Hill is known for having the most fans visit Wilmington just for a chance to meet the cast.
Shantel-Yeah there's tons and tons of them here that are always on set so it's neat to have them come visit us.
You're more than half way through the season now, what has your One Tree Hill experience and journey been like so far?
Shantel-It's amazing. You know coming from a film background you know you're on movies for like three, four months tops, and then you're done with it. You always know going into a movie, okay what's my character going to be doing, what's ahead for me. I was definitely really nervous and apprehensive about being on TV and not knowing what my character was going to do and the choices that she would make and you kind of have to like grow into the skin of your character. At first I was really unsure of who Quinn was and it worked out well that Quinn was definitely unsure of where her life was when I came on the show, you know where she was in her marriage and her career. So it was good I guess that I could share that feeling with my character and I definitely think that she's grown and I've grown and I definitely understand more about Quinn every time I do an episode.
What appealed to you most about the role of Quinn?
Shantel-I'm a pretty complex person I like to believe and I feel like I've had a lot of life experiences and things that I can really bring to Quinn. She has like a very artsy side that I feel like you know being an artist of whether you know being an actress or a musician or a painter or writer, it all uses that same side of your brain and I felt like I really connected with the artistic standpoint of her life and you know the uncertainty of where your career goes by being an entrepreneur. I really connected to that part. I've never been married so I couldn't necessarily connect to that part but you know I've been in relationships before so. There's always challenges when it comes to playing characters, they're not always going to be exactly the way your life has been but it's fun to bring my life to things that Quinn has in her life . It definitely has been a little bit of a challenge sometimes.
Do you think that many viewers can relate to Quinn, in that they're trying to figure out who they are in their 20's, etc?
Shantel-I know it's difficult too because maybe a lot of viewers don't always agree and maybe I don't necessarily always agree with you know the choices that Quinn makes, but I think it is when you're in your 20's, that's the hardest time. You know it's been the hardest time for me in my life too, just figuring everything out, the way that you feel, who do you love and sometimes we make choices and they're not always going to be right you know. I think that it's important to know that it's okay to be wrong. It's okay to make wrong choices and that you probably will learn more from those wrong choices about yourself then you could if you've made right choices your whole life.
What's your take on Quinn being married and dating clay?
Shantel-Well you know it's funny because whenever we film episodes I always have to ask like how much time has passed between the last episode because sometimes it's a week, sometimes it's just a continuation, sometimes it's three weeks...so for me it's always interesting. I know it's something that everybody has struggled with I guess about Quinn and it's not necessarily a choice that maybe I would've made for my own life but then again I think sometimes you find yourself in circumstances where you know you follow your heart and it's not going to make sense to anybody else. But you know Quinn struggled with her relationship and her marriage previous to ever being on the show and coming into the show and not knowing a lot about my background or my character's background is I think something that maybe everybody struggles with. But I think I understand like what path that she's on. You know she is confused and there's a lot of resolution in the next few episodes.
What's your opinion on Clay and Quinn and where they're headed?
Shantel-You know we've both exposed to each other our pasts and 
our pasts are messy. I'm going through a divorce and his wife has passed away so I think we both come from knowing what love can feel like and are very understanding of our friendship, but that there's something more for us. There's definitely gonna be some ups and downs and somethings that we have to go through if we take the relationship further. I think it's important to remember that Quinn and Clay started out friends, they didn't just start dating...they started out by telling each other about their lives and not just jumping into bed together
I think sometimes that's how the best relationships start. Like the best friendships , from those friendships they can grow into some of the best relationships, boyfriends and girlfriends you can ever have in your life because they were there for you in like the most important times.
Who would you like to work with or have Quinn interact with more?
Shantel-Well I love working with Jackson, anytime that I can work with him is amazing. It always brings new energy being around kids. I feel like Quinn has such an old soul but is so young at heart and so many people are like how in the world is she older than Haley but she doesn't have her life together? But that's just Quinn. Quinn has a very playful, child like spirit sometimes and I think that it really comes out when I get to have scenes with Jackson.
What would you like to see happen with Quinn in the future of the show?
Shantel-I would like to see for me, have everybody see where her passion really lies. Instead of just talking about being a photographer, really exploring that and people being able to share what really defines her besides relationships or relationships with her family.
Just things that make her who she is that way people can understand what she's passionate about in her life, what her dreams are as well besides just going after a relationship or spending time with her sister which is really important, but just to like get to know Quinn on every level.
Did you have fun with the cheer-leading scene? And was that scripted or was that all you?
Shantel-(laughs)I feel like in the beginning of the season we started off on a really odd note for Quinn because I come back to Tree Hill struggling and confused. That's where we picked up on Quinn and you don't get to see that funny, goofy side. That scene was for sure hands down my favorite scene probably I've ever done. We filmed for four or five hours and I actually worked that week with a dancer, like a trainer who trained me. She trained me for like three to four hours a day and I learned this whole crazy awesome regime and I had it down and I get to set and they're like no throw that out the window you have to be absolutely horrible and make up stuff and do different things every take..so it was quite exhausting. Actually the snow angel move that I did came from me being exhausted and laying on the floor doing a snow angel cause I didn't know what else to do(laughs) but it definitely was fun and fun to see that side of Quinn, being in love and being happy and being goofy. And I definitely am in real life and I know a lot of people can probably relate to that.
You were immediately thrust into working with two of the show's lead characters, what has that been like working so much with Bethany Joy Galeotti and James Lafferty?
Shantel-It was definitely intimidating you know coming in and they've been here for six years doing this they're pros at it. It was like summer camp we all came in and super happy and exciting, and I was extremely nervous the first day on set. But you know it was kind of a good breaker the very first day we ever shot was the cake fight. Fun with lots of energy. Joy and I kind of just instantly bonded. I feel like there's a lot about our lives that we've really been able to connect on. She has never had a sister, I have a sister so it's kind of like just telling her stories about my own life and my own experiences, we've become really close. And James is amazing too. I feel like I've really lucked out that I've kind of really built a family with those people and I'm really close with Jackson as well and you know the people that I get to work with. I'm really blessed that we all get along and we like each other. You know there'll be days when we're having a hard day and Joy and I can just go sit and cry and it's okay. I feel like it's not only a friend but somebody who's like a sister to me here.
How has playing the role of Quinn allowed you to grow as an actress?
Shantel-I think for me it's really a journey. When I've selected movie roles I knew what I was getting into and I would discover things along the way about myself, but I feel like I've discovered things about Quinn within myself instead of the other way around..you know like strength. I think she probably has more strength than I do in my own life. It's different things that I admire. There's certain things that have happened to Quinn and to me. I know that there's this upcoming speech that really spoke to me as a person and I felt like I really wish that I felt that way about myself more. Every character you're given as an actress I feel you grow from and if you don't grow from it then you don't love what you do because I feel like it's just like your own life, you can't not grow.
What is your dream or ideal role to play in the future?
Shantel-I would love to play in like a war movie or a period piece. There's so many periods I would love to play in. Even World War II movies, I'm in love with war movies. I would love to play in one.
If you could go back in time and spend a day in the life of anyone from history who would it be and why?
Shantel-I think for me I would want to spend a day in the life of my great grandmother. She's probably the most phenomenal person that I've ever had the chance to get to know. She was really like source of inspiration. She lived till she was like 103 and we were always really close. She lived through everything and she experienced everything. I think I was like in ninth grade when she passed away so I felt like I really got to retain the values and the morales she shared with my grandmother who shared with my mom. I feel like so much of her I can see in both of them. I would just love to go back and just live a day in her shoes cause it wasn't always easy and she somehow raised incredible children and I feel like it's been passed down to me.
Is there anything you would like to promote, any upcoming projects?
Shantel- Well I believe that officially Mike Grubs, his band is wakeywakey, his CD comes out February 2nd and they're incredible. I've seen them live in New York now twice and I actually just wanna tell everybody that they have to get his CD when it gets released. He's such a cool person and such a cool artist. And I completely admire anybody who's a musician cause I don't have the guts to do that.
*As I noted earlier, the 'kind' VanSanten answered this question with a first-time response for me; by not choosing to further promote her own career but that of her co-star's.
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