Sophia Bush

Bush was born in Pasadena, California, the only child of Maureen Searson and Charles William Bush. Her mother runs a photography studio, and her father is an advertising and beauty photographer.

In 2000, she graduated from Westridge School for Girls, where she was a member of the volleyball team. At Westridge, she was required to participate in the theater arts program. Bush stated: "Part of my school's requirement was to do a play. I was really irritated because I wanted to play volleyball and I had to go and do this play. But there was a moment after the performance when I realized I had gone and been somebody else. I thought, 'If I could do this for the rest of my life, I am set.' It was like love at first sight."

At age 17, Bush was named the Tournament of Roses Parade Queen.Bush made her first film appearance in the 2002 film National Lampoon's Van Wilder opposite Ryan Reynolds. Following this, she made appearances in several television shows, including Nip/Tuck, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and the HBO film Point of Origin. In 2002, Bush was cast as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, though she was replaced by Claire Danes after a week of filming. Jonathan Mostow, the director of the film, stated that he had replaced her as he felt she was too young for the role, but praised her talent as an actress.

In 2003, Bush was cast as Brooke Davis in the WB television series One Tree Hill. After Bush gained mainstream fame, she became a spokesperson for high-profile brands and posed on the cover of several mainstream magazines, including Entertainment Weekly, Lucky, Maxim, Glamour, InStyle, and Zooey Magazine. She has also had several endorsement deals, including for Ocean Pacific clothing. Bush and her One Tree Hill co-stars were endorsers for MasterCard, Kmart, Chevy Cobalt and Cingular Wireless. She directed three episodes of the series, including the penultimate episode of the ninth and final season.

In July 2006, Bush co-starred in the 20th Century Fox comedy film John Tucker Must Die, directed by Betty Thomas, opposite Brittany Snow and Jesse Metcalfe. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $60 million worldwide. That same year, she also starred in Buena Vista Pictures' supernatural thriller Stay Alive alongside Jon Foster, Frankie Muniz, and Adam Goldberg. The film, the first to be released by Hollywood Pictures in five years, opened at number three in the U.S. box office. She played Grace Andrews in the 2007 remake of the classic horror film The Hitcher, starring opposite Sean Bean. In 2008, Bush co-starred alongside Kevin Zegers and Vincent D'Onofrio in François Velle's independent film The Narrows, playing Kathy Popovich. Based on Tim McLoughlin's novel Heart of the Old Country, the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008. Three years later, she co-starred in the British romantic comedy film Chalet Girl, which was released in February 2011.

In February 2012, it was reported that Bush had joined the cast of the upcoming CBS sitcom Partners. Premiering on September 24, 2012, the series ran for a single season until November, when it was announced that the series had been canceled after six episodes. The remaining seven episodes of the series' initial thirteen-episode order remain unaired in the United States, though they were later aired by various international outlets. In 2013, Bush starred in Passion Pit's "Carried Away" music video, which debuted on February 14. That same year, she was cast in a main role in the television pilot Hatfields & McCoys, but the project failed to be picked up to series.

In August 2013, Bush joined the cast of Chicago P.D. as Det. Erin Lindsay. The series premiered on January 8, 2014. She left the series after four seasons. In December 2018, she cited "abusive behavior" as the reason for leaving the show. Bush also frequently appeared on the first and third Chicago franchise series, Chicago Fire and Chicago Med respectively. In 2018, Bush provided the voice of Voyd, an aspiring superhero, in Pixar's film, Incredibles 2, the sequel to 2004's The Incredibles. In 2019, Bush started her own podcast titled "Work In Progress".

In 2020, Bush appeared as Veronica in four episodes of the first season of Love, Victor on Hulu. Since 2021, Bush has been a co-host on the Drama Queens podcast along with her former One Tree Hill co-stars, Hilarie Burton Morgan and Bethany Joy Lenz. In April 2023, it was announced that Bush would make her West End debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Apollo Theatre. Citing a medical issue, Bush announced that she would no longer be a part of the production in July 2023.

In 2023, Bush appeared on Celebrity Family Feud, competing against Gayle King and her team.