With television series becoming more respected than ever and more actors transitioning between small screen and big screen projects often, there are not many people we can definitively call a “TV star” anymore these days. However, I think Sophia Bush may be one of the few who can still proudly bear this honor, given how exciting her return to network television as the lead of the CBS medical drama, Good Sam, turned out to be.
Of course, the actress and Drama Queens podcast co-host’s film career is no less worthy of praise, which is why we will be mentioning her cinematic greatest hits on our following breakdown of her most essential career highlights, as well. Here are some of the best Sophia Bush movies and TV shows available to stream and / or rent, or purchase digitally, starting with her breakout role.
One Tree Hill (Hulu)
Two half-brothers (Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty), their significant others, and additional loved ones and enemies alike experience various social and professional challenges while moving at the speed of life in a small North Carolina town.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: Sophia Bush’s best known role to date is still, arguably, Brooke Davis (later Brooke Davis Baker), whom she played as a member of the One Tree Hill cast for nine seasons, from 2003 to 2012, and often looks back on that time with her former co-stars Bethany Joy Lenz and Hilarie Burton on their aforementioned podcast, Drama Queens.
Stream One Tree Hill on Hulu.
Buy One Tree Hill on Amazon.
National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (Tubi)
A journalism student (Tara Reid) is assigned to write a series of articles about her campus’ most popular and debaucherous resident (Ryan Reynolds), who begins to fear that his now seven-year stay may be coming to an end, after his wealthy father (Tim Matheson) threatens to cut off his tuition.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: Sophia Bush made her acting debut in the raunchy, 2002 college comedy, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, as Sally, whose attempt to comfort Ryan Reynolds’ titular party animal when he is down in the dumps about Gwen (Tara Reid) almost ruins any future chance he may have had with her.
Stream National Lampoon’s Van Wilder on Tubi.
Rent/Buy National Lampoon’s Van Wilder on Amazon.
John Tucker Must Die (Amazon Prime)
A shy girl who recently moved to a new town (future Pitch Perfect cast member Brittany Snow) helps her new friends (Sophia Bush, Ashanti, Arielle Kebbel) give the most popular and desirable guy at their high school (Jesse Metcalf) a taste of his own medicine after they discover he was dating all three of them at the same time.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: Sophia Bush had a more prominent starring role in the comparatively lighter 2006 high school comedy, John Tucker Must Die, as Beth - one of the three former girlfriends of Jesse Metcalf’s titular player, on whom they seek revenge for three-timing them.
Stream John Tucker Must Die on Amazon Prime.
Rent/Buy John Tucker Must Die on Amazon.
Stay Alive (Amazon Rental)
A group of gamers discover that the sudden death of their friend is mysteriously linked to a violent online video game with a strange historical significance, and they could be next if they cannot make it to the next level.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: In the same year John Tucker Must Die was released, Sophia Bush began her modest reputation as a Scream Queen when she starred in Stay Alive as October Bantum - one of the central characters who are literally gaming to save their lives.
Rent/Buy Stay Alive on Amazon.
The Hitcher (Amazon Rental)
A college student (Sophia Bush) and her boyfriend (Zachary Knighton) discover that they have made a terrible mistake by agreeing to give a ride to a stranger (Sean Bean) who soon reveals to have grave intentions for the couple.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: The second, and arguably best, of Sophia Bush’s horror movies is the 2007 remake of The Hitcher, in which she plays Grace Andrews, who falls prey to Sean Bean as John Ryder - a deadly role first played by the late, great Rutger Hauer in the 1986 original thriller.
Rent/Buy The Hitcher on Amazon.
False Positive (Hulu)
A woman (co-writer Ilana Glazer) begins to suspect that something is awry with her fertility specialist (Pierce Brosnan) and that her husband (Justin Theroux) - a former student of the doctor - may not even be worth trusting, either, when she starts experiencing startling circumstances shortly after becoming pregnant.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: The most recent of Sophia Bush’s horror movies is 2021’s A24-produced Hulu original, False Positive - a modern take on one of the all-time best horror movies, Rosemary’s Baby, in which she plays Corgan, a fellow mother-to-be whom Ilana Glazer’s character, Lucy, tries to confide in about her unsettling suspicions regarding her pregnancy.
Stream False Positive on Hulu.
Table For Three (Tubi, Plex, Vudu)
After a disastrous marriage proposal suddenly leaves him single again and in need of a new roommate, a man (Brandon Routh) takes in an inseparable, seemingly perfect couple (Sophia Bush and Jesse Bradford) who help him get back on his feet, until they begin to unwelcomely insert themselves into just about every aspect of his life and threaten to ruin his chances of finding love again with the woman of his dreams (Jennifer Morrison).
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: One of Sophia Bush’s first TV roles following her tenure on One Tree Hill was on the short-lived CBS sitcom Partners, which also starred former Superman actor Brandon Routh, whom she had previously starred alongside in the 2009 romantic comedy, Table for Three, as Mary - one half of the eccentric, aggressively nosy couple he begrudgingly calls his new roommates.
Stream Table For Three on Tubi.
Stream Table For Three on Plex.
Stream Table For Three on Vudu.
Rent/Buy Table For Three on Amazon.
Chicago P.D. (Peacock)
The uniformed police officers and undercover intelligence unit of the Chicago Police Department’s 21st District take on drug trafficking, murder cases, organized crime, and more of the worst offenses to be found in the Windy City.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: Sophia Bush’s most iconic TV role following her tenure on One Tree Hill is Detective Erin Lindsay, whom she debuted as on Chicago Fire before becoming a series regular with the Chicago P.D. cast for the NBC procedural crime drama’s first four seasons.
Stream Chicago P.D. on Peacock.
Buy Chicago P.D. on Amazon.
Incredibles 2 (Disney+)
Shortly after coming out of hiding to save their city from the Underminer (John Ratzenberger), the super-strong Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson), his elastic wife, Helen (Holly Hunter), their transparent daughter, Violet (Sarah Vowell), speedy son “Dash” (Huck Milner), and diversely gifted infant Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile) receive a second chance to “relive the glory days” and potentially create positive change for the state of vigilantism.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: A year after leaving her role on Chicago P.D. in 2017, Sophia Bush played a different kind of crimefighter when she made her superhero movies debut in Pixar’s Incredibles 2 - the long-awaited sequel to one of the best superhero movies ever made (animated or not) as the voice of Voyd, a teleporter who idolizes Elastigirl.
Stream Incredibles 2 on Disney+.
Rent/Buy Incredibles 2 on Amazon.
Hard Luck Love Song (Amazon Rental)
A boozy, down-on-his-luck, aspiring country music singer (Michael Dorman) travels the road, hustling billiard hall denizens and ruining cheap motels along the way, in the hope of finding and reuniting with his past lover (Sophia Bush), if only his own personal demons would not intervene.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: In 2020, Sophia Bush played the female lead of Hard Luck Love Song - co-writer and director Justin Corsbie’s cinematic adaptation of folk singer Todd Snider’s ballad “Just Like Old Times” that is part romantic-comedy, part Neo Western drama, part crime thriller, and all brutally honest grit.
Rent/Buy Hard Luck Love Song on Amazon.
Love, Victor (Hulu)
A Latino teen (Michael Cimino) faces the challenges of being the new kid in town, opening up to his family, and struggling with his own sexuality after recently enrolling into Creekwood High School.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Sophia Bush: Speaking of love stories, also in 2020, Sophia Bush joined the Love, Victor cast in the recurring role of Veronica - the stepmother of Rachel Naomi Hilson’s character, Mia - for a current total of seven episodes of Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger’s Hulu original series spun-off from the hit LGBTQ+ teen dramedy, Love, Simon, from 2018.
Of course, we also cannot forget about the notable TV guest roles that Sophia Bush played - such as Lizzy in the This Is Us cast, Alexandria on Netflix’s Easy, and Julie on Jane the Virgin, too - before signing on as star and producer on Good Sam, which is on the CBS 2022 TV schedule. We are looking forward to seeing what she signs on for next.
