Bethany Joy

Date of Birth

2 April 1981, Hollywood, Florida, USA

Birth Name

Bethany Joy Lenz

Nickname

Joypiter
Joy

Height

5' 3" (1.60 m)

Mini Biography

Bethany Joy Lenz was born in Hollywood Florida, and now resides in North Carolina where her current project - the WB hit "One Tree Hill" (2003) - is filmed. Lenz plays "Haley James Scott", wife to James Lafferty's "Nathan", and childhood mate of Chad Michael Murray's "Lucas".

Prior to "One Tree Hill" (2003), Bethany spent most of her acting career on the stage. She has called Musical theater her passion, and has performed in various productions of "Annie", "The Wizard of Oz", "Gypsy", "Cinderella", etc...

After moving from Texas to New York, Bethany portrayed "Michelle Bauer Santos" on CBS's "The Guiding Light" (1952). When her two year contract ended there, she left New York and moved to Los Angeles and guest starred on shows like "Charmed" (1998), "Felicity" (1998) and "The Guardian" (2001). She also appeared in Los Angeles stage productions of "The Outsiders" - directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman, and "Happy Days" (as Pinky Tuscadero) - directed by Garry Marshall.

She is also an accomplished singer trained in New York by Richard Barrett, the director of the Brooklyn College of Opera, and in Los Angeles by renowned voice teacher Eric Vetro (Jennifer Garner, John Stamos, Ewan McGregor). Bethany has also recently completed a full-length album for Epic Records (Sony BMG), which is expected to be released in early 2006.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Envoy Entertainment

Spouse

Michael Galeotti

(31 December 2005 - present)

Trivia

She has a springer spaniel named Scout, and two cats named Noah and Allie, the lead characters in the film The Notebook (2004), and the book by Nicholas Sparks, on which the film is based.

Released the limited CD "Preincarnate" featuring eight original tracks (2002)

The unusual spelling of her name was adopted in her early teens.

Her hobbies are Photography, painting, writing, horseback riding, knitting, and making stationery.

Is also a talented musician and singer with a four-octave range.

Goes by her middle name "Joy."

She has a 13 year old sister, who is not allowed to watch her on the WB's "One Tree Hill" (2003).

Impressed producers so much during her three week stint as "Teenage Reva Clone" on "The Guiding Light" (1952), she was re-hired later that year in the contract role of "Michelle Bauer" on the daytime serial.

Her favorite musicians are: Sheryl Crow, U2, Coldplay, "and anything that's not a sellout".

Her favorite TV shows are: "Joan of Arcadia" (2003), "Alias" (2001), "I Love Lucy" (1951), "Lost" (2004), "Arrested Development" (2003) and "Friends" (1994).

Her prized possession is Journals.

November 2005: Announced she will be marrying Michael Galeotti by the end of the year. She will be taking his surname and using "Bethany Joy Galeotti" professionally, which should be reflected in the "One Tree Hill" (2003) opening credits by the new year.

Since leaving "The Guiding Light" (1952) in 2000, she has kept in touch with co-stars Tammy Blanchard (Drew) and Paul Anthony Stewart (Danny).

Performed with Tyler Hilton, 'Gavin Degraw' and The Wreckers (Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp) on the One Tree Hill Tour.

Best friends with Brittany Snow, Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Abigail Spencer.

Played, on guitar, and sang the National Anthem in the One Tree Hill cast Super Bowl in early 2004.

Changed her last name from Lenz to Galeotti when she got married. It is reflected on the credits of One Tree Hill.

Starred/worked with Richard Lee Jackson in "Bring It On Again" and is now married to Richard Lee Jackson's band mate Michael Galeotti from their band Enation.

Personal Quotes

"I never rule anything out, I just follow where I'm lead."

"I don't party. I'm a total homebody. I like hanging out with my cat and I've actually been known to stay home and knit."

Joining "One Tree Hill" (2003) has been: "Like summer camp, only it's really cold in Wilmington, North Carolina! I've never lived in a small town, but I always pictured myself in a small house, drinking lemonade on my porch swing. Now I have the porch!".

Favorite holiday: Christmas. "It will always be number one on my list. You feel cozy for like two months straight. You sing songs, all the stories look exactly the same. There's no other holiday where everybody decorates. There's a joy and a spirit of excitement that's in the air around Christmastime. It's the best."

"If I ever got married and my husband wanted me to give all this up and follow him wherever he wanted me to go I would. I love acting because it's fun to play and I love music but I will be writing music for the rest of my life, forever. I'd be just as happy doing community-theater as I am doing a TV show. Doesn't much matter to me."

"I am not a people person. It's not that I am shy, but I am more comfortable in an atmosphere of one-on-one. I hate crowds and parties."

"That's the exciting thing. I still don't know what I'm going to be. I love acting. I would love to be an English teacher. I would love to be a housewife and have a chateau in the South of France, I would love to be a singer that travels to cafes around different towns. I am loving to live out my life right now and see where it goes, it's exciting."

"I guess I've sort of always wanted to be an actress, except when I was five, which, I did want to be the Queen of England."

"Musical theater is oh, my dream. My passion. Music is in my veins. Just being able to mix that passion with my other passion, for acting, would be unbelievable. I have to brush up on my dancing, but I'd definitely love to hit Broadway."

"Music's something I'll be doing for the rest of my life, whether I'm just playing guitar in my living room or whether I'm playing for 3,000 people."

"I am an actor. God forbid I say this, but I would be doing it for free because I love it. If I could, I'd do this every day of my life."

"I am a down-home girl. I love home and a German shepherd and an old red pickup truck from the '50s. I would love an old house in Alabama with little kids running in the yard."

"Lies about your physical appearance in Hollywood creep in like a nasty serpent in your bed. It's awful. "Who's got the best outfit?", "Who's makeup artist is terrible?", etc... I've really been learning that I have to choose to believe that it is not my clothes or my hair or my makeup that is going to make me shine. It's a battle I fight everyday with myself."

"I'm working on a demo and putting down tracks this week, actually. I write all my own music. It's like Sheryl Crow's and Joni Mitchell's stuff. I'm totally staying away from the Britney Spears thing - I don't want to be marketed and packaged".

"I'm a girlie girl. I just like being feminine."

"I think I started to see that acting was a really great catharsis for me. I've always been really creative and artistic, but I think acting was something that I could pour my creative energy into, and it took all of me. To this day, I haven't found that feeling anywhere else."

"I have no desire to be a star."

"I don't believe the human heart was made to be put through the abuse of the dating world. "

"I was probably singing before I could talk, Musical theater is my passion. If I could afford it, I would just do dinner theater and live a simple life."

"My personal style is just really easy, non fashion concerned. I have a lot of jeans and tee shirts."

"So much of my heart is in my music. If you pay close attention to the lyrics, you can get a much better perception of who I am when my guard is down. "

"I can't cook or do crafts. And put a soccer ball or a football in my hand, and I wouldn't know what to do with it, but if you give me a creative outlet, usually, I'd be able to figure something out."

"I eat peanut butter, Swiss cheese and lettuce sandwiches. Really, they're very good!"

"My dream car is a red '57 Chevrolet pickup. So I'd take a road trip in that for a day, play classic rock music the whole time and then stop at a diner at midnight for some apple pie."

"I had a lot of creative energy when I was young. I was not the best student because I was always challenging what the teachers were saying, rather than just accepting it."

"I love being home on rainy days! I usually write and sneak in an I Love Lucy rerun!"

"I love singing. Getting on stage... it's like reaching in to the bottom of my soul and bringing it right up. I love it. "

"I'm not a morning person. But I'm not really much of a night person, either. I'm just kind of there."

On her character Haley: "The interesting thing about Haley is that she feels really awful, but at the same time she doesn't walk around groveling. That would be pathetic. She wants to be forgiven, but she is willing to earn that. I hope the Nathan and Haley fans hang in there because I think they will be very satisfied with the outcome."

"I wrote my first song when I was maybe like four years old. I was always wandering around the house making things up. Back then, I learned a lot about singing from listening to Mariah Carey. I would sing to her [albums] and try and get all her riffs and stuff. I would be in my room for hours until I could get it right, it helps being an only child because I didn't have anything else to do!"

"I've learned so much, especially with Chad. He is really good with camera and lighting and technical stuff. He has learned a lot about that and he's really good to work with and so I have learned so much technically. It's been amazing."

"Music is something that is in you. You can touch people with your music even if you're working a job at starbucks or working a desk job."

Where Are They Now

(January 2005) Although she is working on her show "One Tree Hill" in North Carolina, she currently has an apartment in Burbank, California and is buying a house in Washington

(March 2005) She is currently on tour with Tyler Hilton, The Wreckers (Michele Branch and Jessica Harp) and Gavin Degraw - the "One Tree Hill" concert tour.

(May 2005) Recording an album to be released early 2006

(June 2005) Filming season 3 of One Tree Hill in Wilmington, North Carolina

(November 2005) Announced engagement to "Enation" band member Micheal Galeotti.

(August 2007) In Wilmington, North Carolina filming as Haley Scott for Season 5 One Tree Hill.

(September 2006) In North Carolina filming season 4 of One Tree Hill.

(July 2007) In Wilmington filming Season 5 of One Tree Hill.