Hilarie Burton Morgan GUSHES Over ‘Muses’ Sophia Bush and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Exclusive)

My favorite chapter was titled Find Your Muse. And I love how empowering this phrase is. You urge your readers to become your own damn muse. Right? Why not? Yeah. There was a time in the early 2000s where, I mean, I was hanging out with a lot of musicians. Sure were, yes. And I was like, oh my god, are they going to write a song about me? You know? Then it occurred to me that I didn't need someone else to validate me by making a piece of art about me. That I could focus on the things that I liked about me. Yes. Because we were surrounded by so much toxicity. And so when you have this center where you know who you are and you know what you like about yourself, you become unshakeable. And so I want to encourage everyone to write love poems to themselves and songs about yourself. And that way you don't need, like, a homeless musician boyfriend. Put that on a bumper sticker. You just don't need it. Tell all the young girls out there, be your own muse. Leave the musicians. Be your own muse. Yes. You said you are your own muse, but you do give a lot of credit to people that you consider muses in your life. So you mentioned your amazing husband, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. You call him your work muse. Yeah. You just celebrated your four-year wedding anniversary. Congratulations. Thanks. What is it about this man that really lights your soul on fire? He's morally sound. You know? Even when we're mad at each other for not washing the dishes and, like, piddly things that people get frustrated with, Jeffrey respects me so much, and that's so important for my kids to see. He treats this as real work. I've met a number of writers who are like, My partner doesn't think me sitting at the kitchen table scribbling in a notebook is real work. And he has always treated my work as real work. And that feels very nice to be supported in that way. And he's obviously let me try on lots of different versions of myself. And I hope that I've allowed him to do the same thing. Yeah. It seems like he's loved every version of Hillary. Yeah. I mean, there are some he likes better than others, for sure. Which one's his favorite and which one's his least? Yeah, he's super into, like, Witch Wife right now. Yes! Tis the season. He likes this phase. I think because when you arrive at this age and you get to a point where you're sure of yourself, there's a lot of that anxiety that disappears. And so he was with me through very anxious phases. You know, he's with me through Me Too movement. He's with me through career changes, through moves across the country. And so he has seen me at my best and my worst. And he really likes this phase. I love it. I can see the light in your eyes. How did saying goodbye to Los Angeles and hello to a quieter life on a New York farm, how did that bolster the bond that the two of you share? Well, I think doing tangible work is really important. Like, we work in a world of fairy tale, right? Where we wear clothes that other people give us and we say words that other people give us. Make believe. All make believe. Yeah, it's all just kind of pretend. And you go home sometimes at the end of the day and you're like, what did I even do today? And so by moving to the farm, we were able to do tangible projects. I renovated everything. He chopped a lot of wood. All your hands. Yeah, all our hands. And so at the end of the day, we were tired and we were sore, but we had something to show for it. And I think we both really liked surprising each other with the skill sets that we didn't know the other person had. Wow. What surprised you about Jeffrey? He's really good with machinery and cars. He's building a car with my son right now. Oh my gosh. And I was like, okay. That's not fair. To be such a brilliant actor and to also have the other side of your brain be— And he's very good looking. Yeah, I mean— That doesn't hurt. Your activism muse is Sophia Bush. Your longtime friend. Your ride or die. It's so refreshing as a fan to see that the two of you are truly soul sisters. What is it? One, two decades later. Yeah, more than two now. More than two decades. So in a sea of fair weather friends, what is it like to have a Sophia Bush in your corner? Yeah, I mean, we are born the same week. I'm July 1st and she's July 8th. And when we first met, we were so similar. Cancers. It was like magnets, you know? And people were trying to force us into the same box. They were like, you're both the ingenue. Except we weren't, you know? I really like behind the camera producing. She really loves activism. And we were both being shoved in a direction neither one of us really wanted to go. And so as adults, being able to not only do what we actually want to do but empower each other is so important. And she was the first person I knew that was really getting politically engaged and getting involved in activism. And she's just not afraid to throw herself in front of the line of fire. She's done it for me so many times. And so I want to protect her at all costs. How so? So I've had, you know, like internet scuffles. It happens. Yeah, everybody's had an internet scuffle or two. And Sophia is the first person that will rush in. And that is why my husband loves her so much. Because he's like, you know, other than me, the person who comes to your defense and the person who will fight for your honor is Sophia. And so I love that she's unafraid. And sometimes with people who are so strong and unafraid, they hide their soft inside. And so it's my job as her best friend to protect her as well. Because she really is the most wonderful human. And, yeah, we'll still be working together when we're in our 80s. I sure hope so. Yeah, that's the game plan. I sure hope you're still working together, podcasting together, you know, giving us, you know. Right now we're like looking at books. We're like, what do we want? Oh, okay. So you're marinating on what you want to do next. Yeah. As long as you're together. She and I are together forever, man. You know, and I love that the bond is very much both ways. And we're so happy for her. I know that she's in a really great phase of life right now, starting a new chapter. What is it like to see someone, as ride or die as Sophia, in such a great space? I think being able to celebrate every chapter of a loved one's life is so important. And that even means like the chapters that are awkward or the chapters that maybe didn't work in the past. And so we were together last night. And being able just to be together and hold each other and be like, whatever is coming next, like I'm here for it. And that's exciting. Because she's held me in some dark chapters. And so for her, I want to celebrate the wins. And I want to, again, like protect her at all costs. That's a good woman. I understand your son is a little journalist in training. Maybe a future Entertainment Tonight correspondent. Yeah. So he has this idea of what hosting is. And he certainly doesn't shy away from opportunities to do that. But he's on his school newspaper team. Team, squad, staff. Yeah. And he is so serious about it and really is like writing hard-hitting essays about furries. Because there was some discrimination against like people that like to dress up as animals. That was a big thing in the middle school. So Gus is a man who supports the furries. He's a man who supports inclusion. Oh, love it. Diversity, inclusion, all things. We are not going to discriminate against anybody that wants to wear ears or a tail to school. Wow. Yeah, those kinds of- I love it. That's what you guys are teaching him at home. That's so important. Well, they're junior versions of very real issues that we deal with in the real world. And so he's getting to practice that in a really safe setting. And we're proud of him. He just got cast as the lead in our town play. Look at Gus racking up the credits. Yeah. And I like that it's initiated by him. I never wanted to force him into anything. But he is a force. And he's bigger than I am now. And he shaves. Oh, my gosh. Well, he's 13, right? Yeah. Wow, so you've got a teenager at home. He's a handsome, cool dude, you know? Wow. He's turning more and more into his dad every day, which I love. And then your daughter, little cutie. George, yeah. George, is she following in the family business? George right now is- she is loving kindergarten. Because it means that she went from a very small, little preschool to a much larger situation. And she's like, I have so many friends. Yeah. And so I love seeing how social she is, especially because these are kids of the pandemic. And they miss those formative years of getting to know other kids. And so to see how outgoing she is and how inclusive she is with other kids is exciting. But yeah, she sees me doing PTA and just talking to the other moms at school. And she mimics it with her classmates now. And she's like, we can't leave until I hug everyone goodbye. So she's picking up on the subtle nuances. Dude, yeah. Is she a future performer? Probably. I mean, but no, she says she's going to be a vet. Okay, good. But also, she really likes to cry on cue. Your next muse that you talk about is Julie Rudd. She's your parenting muse. I think there's a lot of people who are very fascinated by this idea that you and your husband co-own this really sweet, quaint shop that sells coffee and chocolate. What is it like being in business with the Rudds? We were just dinner buddies. And we'd go to dinner every Sunday. And it was so nice. And our kids all played together. And it was lovely. And when our local candy store, our dear friend was the owner of it, he passed away very suddenly. And we didn't want to see it turned into a chain restaurant or like a bike shop or, you know. No, no. Preserve what we still got. Yeah. Come on. And so going into business with them has been really lovely. And Julie brings all of that maternal energy that she has for her children to the shop. And is so loving in the way that she manages the shop with us. And so I look to her as a parenting muse because until I met her, I was the only person I knew whose husband would just go away for months at a time for work. She can understand that. And I didn't know what to do. I didn't have a model for it. How do you make that work when you're like, see, in six months. Like sexy texts. Oh, good for you. Keep that flame alive. I know. We're flirty. Yeah. You've got to keep that spark alive. It's important. I'm not embarrassed.