Episode 81: Hilarie Burton

May 4, 2020

Hilarie Burton, actress-turned-author and farmer best known from One Tree Hill and The Rural Diaries, shares her move from Hollywood to farm life. She talks about adapting identity, learning tough farm skills, the value of tangible work, and how small-town community efforts rallied during COVID. Brief, personal stories highlight resilience and reinvention.

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ANECDOTE

Acting Into A New Life

Hilarie Burton describes deliberately adopting farm life as if playing a role before it became authentic.
She mimicked rural people, wardrobes, and routines until the lifestyle felt natural and permanent.

INSIGHT

Tangible Work Builds Self Esteem

Burton contrasts intangible entertainment work with tangible farm labor that yields visible ownership each day.
She says tangible accomplishments (quilts, chopped wood, pies) boost self‑esteem and marital appreciation in rural life.

ANECDOTE

Getting Hands On With Unruly Animals

She shares a farm-specific challenge: handling unpredictable animals like an adopted donkey and emu.
Burton admits she's still gun‑shy around horses and emphasizes respectful boundaries when working with animals.

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An interview with Hilarie Burton about how she transitioned from Hollywood to a farm, how her life has changed, the most challenging skill she learned on the farm, the power of human connection, and her best career advice.

Welcome to the 81st episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions.

This episodes guest:

My guest today is One Tree Hill actress turned farmer and author, Hilarie Burton. Born in Sterling, Virginia, Hilarie was very active in high school as the captain of the cheerleading squad, the student council president, and homecoming queen. She started her career as a VJ on MTV’s Total Request Live then made an appearance on Dawson’s Creek before getting cast for her breakout role on One Tree Hill. Since then, she’s played lead roles in films such as Our Very Own, Solstice, and The List, and TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Forever and Lethal Weapon. More recently, Hilarie wrote her memoir “The Rural Diaries” and became a co-host, with her husband, of AMC’s “Friday Night In with The Morgans”. In this episode, Hilarie introduces us to her life on the farm and what she’s learned from her experience.

The 5 questions I ask in this episode:

How were you able to transition from being a bi-coastal Hollywood actress to raising a family on a farm and what were the hardest sacrifices you had to make?
How have your views on life and work changed from the time you spent living in big cities to a small town?
Reading your book reminded me of the reality show “The Simple Life” in that you’ve had to learn new skills to survive and thrive in your new environment like raising animals and running a candy store. What was the most challenging skill you had to learn and how did you learn it?
While the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in isolation, job loss, and death, the silver lining is that many of us are getting closer even from a distance. What has this crisis, and your new life, taught you about the power of human connection?
What’s your best piece of career advice?

Follow Hilarie’s journey: