Exclusive Interview

Romance Rewind: Bryan Greenberg Looks Back at ‘One Tree Hill,’ ‘Prime’ & More (VIDEO)

You’d be hard-pressed to find a One Tree Hill fan who doesn’t like Jake Jagielski. During her romantic drama with Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray), Peyton Sawyer (Hilarie Burton Morgan) found a connection with the lovable and supportive teen dad.

There’s a passionate subset of OTH fans who wished Peyton and Jake had been endgame, but these two were always victims of bad timing. Bryan Greenberg sat down with Swooon to reminisce about his romantic roles through the years, starting with Jake.

“It’s just impossible not to like that guy,” Greenberg said about Jake. The actor made an impression, despite not being a series regular. Greenberg said he was “dying to be a regular” on the show, but he soon got offered other projects that took him out of Tree Hill.

Fred Norris / Warner Bros. / Everett Collection

Recently, there have been rumblings of a One Tree Hill revival with Morgan and Sophia Bush involved. Would Greenberg be open to returning as Jake? “I don’t know if that’s real, but sure, I’d consider it,” he said. 

Greenberg’s first rom-com leading man role was in Prime, which turns 20 this year. The actor played David, a 23-year-old artist who falls for a 37-year-old divorcee named Rafi (Uma Thurman). Their relationship gets increasingly complicated when Rafi’s therapist (Meryl Streep) figures out her client is seeing her son.

Thurman was a last-minute addition to the film. Greenberg’s chemistry test was actually with Sandra Bullock, who had originally been attached to the project. Fans of the romance film often reference the final scene between Rafi and Daniel, where they share one last look before going their separate ways.

“I think it’s an acknowledgement of the time they had together and the place in their life that they were, but that’s not where they’re going,” Greenberg told Swooon about the final scene. “And it was just a beautiful nod to…I think Meryl says it in there…  It’s like, you love and you move on, and it doesn’t always last forever.”

Universal / Everett Collection

From Bride Wars to Friends With Benefits, Greenberg has popped up in plenty of rom-coms over the past 20 years. However, the 2015 romance film Always Tomorrow in Hong Kong was the first time he’d worked with his now-wife Jamie Chung. The couple, who have since welcomed twins, produced the movie as well.

“She wanted to get separate apartments while we were shooting, which was very smart, by the way, because you want to build a little mystery and romance,” Greenberg revealed. “And if we’re around each other all the time and working together and sleeping in the same bed, it can be a little too much.”

Today, Greenberg is starring in NBC’s Suits LA. While Suits LA is certainly not a rom-com, there’s some serious romantic tension between Rick and Erica (Lex Scott Davis) because of their history. “This is interesting because we realized they were together in the past, and it’s like, how are they working or not working together?” he told Swooon. Greenberg promised that viewers will get “answers” about Rick and Erica’s past.

Watch the full video above to see Greenberg look back at October Road, The Mindy Project, and more of his romantic roles.