Sophia’s Next Chapter

“I had it, and then I lost it, and then I had to find it again.”

Actress Sophia Bush wasn’t talking about a misplaced Hollywood accessory. She was describing her voice – and the long journey to reclaim it – during an intimate conversation at Godmothers Bookstore celebrating her new memoir, And I Will Tell You Mine: Notes from a Life in Progress.

Godmothers co-founder Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, who led the discussion, told the attentive audience that the evening was “ten years in the making.” Bush, 44, had spent nine of those years resisting invitations to write her life story.

The One Tree Hill and Chicago P.D. star held little back, discussing family tensions, early fame, public scrutiny, and learning to advocate for herself as fiercely as she has for others.

She recalled being told as a schoolgirl that her parents would divorce – only for the conversation to disappear, unresolved, until she was 34. “I wish I hadn’t carried that for 26 years,” she reflected.

At one point, Bush’s eyes welled with tears. But there was laughter, too, particularly as she likened her bewildering leap into television stardom to a salmon snatched from a river by an eagle. “I’m the fish,” she joked.

Asked about learning to honor her own needs, Bush offered another revealing admission: “I’d rather break my own heart than yours.”

The evening ended with audience questions and signed books awaiting readers. For a Hollywood star accustomed to performing other people’s stories, this was a moving moment to tell her own.

Sightings 

Montecito’s Zoë Saldaña traded Halloween costumes for black-tie glamour at Airbnb.org’s inaugural gala at Milk Studios in Los Angeles on October 28. Sporting a chic black tuxedo by The Row with Cartier jewels, the Oscar winner mingled with Katie Couric while Jimmy Kimmel hosted the affair benefiting emergency housing for families. Now that’s a fashionable way to give back!

Katy Perry traded glamour for a little country charm, making a Halloween-season appearance at Lane Farms Pumpkin Patch in Santa Barbara. With pumpkins galore, hayrides, farm animals, and a corn maze, the local fall favorite offered a decidedly down-to-earth setting for the superstar. 

Kendall Jenner celebrated Halloween and her 31st birthday with a costume bash at Bar Marmont in West Hollywood. The birthday girl channeled Nastassja Kinski in Paris, Texas, with platinum-blonde bob and hot-pink minidress, Jacob Elordi was her onscreen husband. Leonardo DiCaprio prowled as the Big Bad Wolf, with Vittoria Ceretti as Little Red Riding Hood. Hailey Bieber looked angelic in wings and a halo, while husband Justin Bieber played the red devil. Charli XCX channeled Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character in Secretary, and Cara Delevingne went full Rocky Horror as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Quite the Halloween cast!