One Tree Hill actress on why she does not accept her character’s end

"She deserves some happiness..."

She definitely pulled (more than) a few stunts during her time in Tree Hill - like the time she steered a limousine off a bridge, nearly killing four people - but Rachel Gatina deserved better. And it sounds like Danneel Ackles, who played the character for four seasons on One Tree Hill, agrees. Many of the show's antagonists got big redemption arcs (including Dan, who actually killed his brother in cold blood). But after the series made a time jump post-the group's high school years, Rachel appeared to have a very tough go of things. The character developed a heroin addiction, stole money from her best friend, married Dan (and promptly divorced him), only to be left with an empty bank account before totally disappearing. Ackles told TVLine that she felt the character's story was left a bit unfinished, and that Rachel is "in a wonderful place right now". She added:

“My Rachel had a very different life. “I think Rachel is in a wonderful place right now, happily married to some good looking guy. She deserves some happiness.”

The actress added that she felt the reason why Rachel's story came to an abrupt end was due to the series' creator and executive producer, Mark Schwahn. She explained:

“There have been a lot of things that have come out recently about One Tree Hill, so I’ll let you just kind of decide why you think that happened to her. “Our executive producer and creator kind of had a way of — when he was done with you — making you leave the show the worst possible way.”

Last year, more than a dozen cast and crew members penned an open letter to the series' creator, accusing him of fostering an environment where women were "manipulated psychologically and emotionally". The letter inspired 25 women from his current series, The Royals, to write a similar letter. This resulted in his termination from the show.