Sophia Bush says her Roku movie “Broad Trip” is fueled by a specific kind of energy—“John Hughes energy”—and that after decades of drama, she wants to return to comedy for more than laughs. The film follows Bush as Alice, an HR professional who road-trips with
New York
When Sophia Bush opens up about her latest Roku movie, she doesn’t talk like someone trying to sell a project. She talks like someone describing a feeling she’s been chasing.
“Broad Trip” is streaming now on Roku. and Bush plays Alice. a human-resources professional who goes on a road trip with her mother. Jeanie (Lauren Holly). to stop Jeanie from marrying Wayne (Steve Guttenberg). a man she met a week ago. The premise is messy in the best way—built for awkward conversations. sudden decisions. and the kind of family chaos that turns a trip into a turning point.
The story is set in Buffalo, New York. Bush’s character goes there with a mission. In real life. Bush says she’s been to Buffalo before. and her last trip there came with a different kind of energy: she was filming the biographical movie “Marshall. ” starring Chadwick Boseman. “I was just bopping around town watching (Boseman) be brilliant and then going to see art. ” Bush. 43. tells MISRYOUM in an interview. She counts the Albright-Knox Art Gallery as a favorite. “So it was great.”.
Even with the movie’s comedic edge. Bush says she’s drawn to the ritual of road trips themselves—what happens before the engine even starts. She’s a fan of packing the car, stocking the cooler, and creating the playlist. “I like to stop and see something ridiculous like the nation’s tallest thermometer or largest frying pan,” she says. She’s visited both, in Baker, California, and Rose Hill, North Carolina, respectively. “It might be silly, but I want to see it.”.
For Bush, the silliness on screen isn’t an accident. She also executive produces “Broad Trip,” and she believes the chance to shape it grew out of a personal conversation. She says she had a talk with EGOT winner Benj Pasek. where they fondly recalled their favorite films and TV shows from childhood. Bush connected those memories to the social momentum those stories helped create. “Think about the incredible social progress that was made in the wake of the movies that raised us. like the John Hughes movies. the ‘Home Alone’s. the TV shows like ‘Family Matters’ and ‘Girlfriends. ’” she says. She points to “Will and Grace” as another example of entertainment helping drive marriage equality. “Joy and comedy actually is an incredible vehicle for getting excited to meet your neighbors.”.
She doesn’t shy away from contrast, either. “I love a zombie apocalypse,” Bush adds. “’The Last of Us’ is a perfect show, but it doesn’t exactly make you want to go knock on somebody’s door that you don’t know.”
After her conversation with Pasek, Bush told her manager and agents that she was looking for “John Hughes energy” in her next project. Three weeks later, she says the script for “Broad Trip” was on her desk. Bush remembers reading it and getting “Dumb and Dumber” vibes.
Lauren Holly then became attached to the project, playing Bush’s mother. Bush describes the moment she saw her at the first table read as instant and almost overwhelming. “When I tell you I left my body in the most exciting way. and then I told myself not to be weird. ” Bush says. “I opened the door to our table read, and I saw her and I just screamed. I definitely haven’t been cool. but we just clicked. like we jumped into the ride together and we had so much fun making this movie.”.
Bush’s career began with a major breakthrough: she gained fame as Brooke Davis in WB’s “One Tree Hill.” Over more than two decades in show business, she’s watched herself move through different kinds of roles—and now she’s leaning into comedy in a way she says she wants to keep returning to.
“I was brought on to ‘One Tree Hill’ after the pilot to be comic relief and then, it’s a drama,” she explains. “So eventually even the funny pot-stirrer has to sob and be like, ‘But, no, I love him!’ And comedy is just such a joy for me and it’s just a space I want to be in more and more.”
For “Broad Trip,” that intention lands directly in the plot. Alice’s plan to stop her mother’s marriage hinges on how people react—when emotions spike. when the trip gets ridiculous. and when comedy turns ordinary family tension into something you can’t look away from. The road trip may be filmed in Canada. but the desire behind it is unmistakably familiar: Bush wants projects that make people laugh and keep them talking long after the credits.
Sophia Bush Broad Trip Roku comedy John Hughes energy Lauren Holly Steve Guttenberg Buffalo New York road trip movie