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For One Tree Hill fans, besides the lead prominent characters, if there was one person that caught their fancy the most among others, it was Keith Alan Scott aka the beloved Uncle Keith. Embodied by Craig Sheffer throughout the time he appeared in real-time and in visions to Dan, and didn’t take long to earn a special place in fans’ hearts before he was killed rather unexpectedly.
However, Sheffer’s experience of working on this respective drama wasn’t exactly the best. If anything, not only did he find himself under tremendous “non-collaborative control” but was also blindsided by his character’s out-of-the-blue death. And the person to blame for making the actor’s life a living hell while on the show was none other than show creator Mark Schwahn.
Mark Schwahn Made Life Hell for Craig Sheffer onOne Tree Hill
ThoughMark Schwahnreally racked his brains to bring an entertaining storyline forward throughOne Tree Hill, the part where he seems to have genuinely lacked is where he was supposed to take care of his cast members and be considerate of their thoughts, opinions, and feelings as well. This factor seems to have gone a bit too far when it came to actor Craig Sheffer.
For one, Sheffer found himself becoming a victim of “non-collaborative control” throughout the time that he played Uncle Keith for the screens. Appearing on theDrama Queenspodcast, the 64-year-old shed light on the same issues, pointing out, “We do know that production schedules can get crazy but for simple things, it was so about control.”
Sharing an example of the same, he said, “I showed up as this character. I had a teeny bit of facial hair, I wore my boots outside my pants like I always did. Gradually, Mark … they threatened to fire me about my boots. I’m like, ‘Look, I just don’t want to leave my boots in my pants. I wear my bandana, I’ve been doing it for the first 3-4 weeks.’ [They said,] ‘We don’t want that anymore. We want your hair combed back, we want you shaved, we want this.’”
Sophia Bush, Jana Kramer and More Mourn ‘One Tree Hill’ Star Paul Teal After Shocking Death at 35
If this much control, even over his mere appearance, wasn’t enough, the masterminds behind the show reportedly went further than this to make theA River Runs Through Itactor’s life pretty much a living hell: They called up his agent and threatened to fire him if the series of events continued that way.
It got to a point where they’re calling my agent like, ‘If this power struggle is going to continue, we’re just going to get rid of him.’ That kind of stuff, they break down your soul.
Of course,this “ridiculous” control exercised on the setsmust have seriously gotten to Sheffer. But while this was one thing, the worst part was that the actor was even blindsided about his character’s death!
Meanwhile, Craig Sheffer Was Also Blindsided About His Character’s Death
During the same interview, Craig Sheffer also confessed to being completely blindsided about his character’s death in the show despite being originally guaranteed by the show creator that he was going to stay on as long as the show ran“It was actually really, extremely disappointing because I had just made a movie and financed it myself for, like, a million dollars,” he said.
Apparently, after the series’ second season, creator Mark Schwahn discussed with him: “Because they had let me go for the last six shows the season before, I was like, ‘Are you going to cut me?’ He came to dinner to tell me. He’s like, ‘No, no, no. As long as the show runs, you’re gonna be on it. You’re the character I based on my brother.’” But this promise didn’t stay for long.
“A section of my life that I deleted”: Chad Michael Murray Still Refuses to Watch ‘One Tree Hill’ 14 Years After Show Ended
As it turns out, ahead of the third season, Sheffer was pretty much the only actor who was yet to receive the call while his other co-stars were already preparing themselves to leave to start the shoot. Then, one day, while golfing, he finally got the call, with the now-former screenwriter telling him, ‘I’ve got some really exciting news for you. It’s gonna be the best season ever.’
Having finally received the much-anticipated call, the actor unhesitantly voiced his concerns to the show creator, pointing out that he was ‘wondering when you were gonna [call]’ and that he had no idea about what was going on since he even had his agents call them up but no one responded. In reply, Schwahnstraightforwardly said, ‘Yeah, so good news and bad news.’
Sheffer said, “[He] tells me all about this great thing, [and says,] ‘And then Paul shoots you.’ I go, ‘OK, so I’m dead? Does that mean I don’t get paid anymore?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ I was like, ‘Dude, you told me.’” This inevitably seriously offended the actor, who added, “Not only was it cheesy, but the way it was handled. You don’t call me and talk to me about it?”
While that was that, the actual fire further embroiling Schwahn in controversy came in 2017, five years after the show wrapped, when 18 women who worked on the show reportedly took a brave step forward to allege the show creator of s-xual h-rassment in a letter toVariety. This time around, Schwahn found himself getting fired from his job onThe Royals– perhaps, rightfully so.
One Tree Hill can currently be streamed on Prime Video.
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
