
Early life:
Bush, an only child, was born and raised in Pasadena, California to Charles William Bush, an advertising and celebrity photographer, and Maureen, a photography studio manager. Bush has Italian ancestry, and attended Westridge School for Girls (Pasadena), as well as the University of Southern California. She was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, where she served as Social Chair.
In 2000, she was the Tournament of Roses Parade Queen. Bush attended USC for three years before landing the role of Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill (2003).

Bush made her first big screen appearance in the comedy feature film Van Wilder. Following, she made appearances in several television shows, such as Nip/Tuck, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Punk'd. She was cast as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, but was replaced by Claire Danes because the director thought she was too young for the role.
In 2003, she got the role of Brooke Davis in the CW television series One Tree Hill. Her character, Brooke Davis, evolved from a trouble-making vixen to a fiercely loyal friend and a fan favorite. After Bush gained mainstream fame, she became a spokesperson for high-profile brands. She posed on the cover of several mainstream magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, Lucky, Maxim, Glamour and InStyle and has had several endorsement deals, one of her latest endorsements is for Op's fall campaign OPen Campus. Bush and her One Tree Hill co-stars were endorsers for MasterCard, K-Mart, Chevy Cobalt and Cingular wireless.


On April 16, 2005, Bush married actor Chad Michael Murray, her One Tree Hill co-star. They dated for almost two years before they were married in Santa Monica. They announced their separation on September 26, 2005 after five months of marriage when Bush filed court papers to have their marriage annulled citing fraud. In December 2006, Bush and Murray's divorce was made final.
On October 27, 2008, amid rumors of Bush dating fellow One Tree Hill co-star James Lafferty, Murray confirmed the romance. "[Sophia and I] are both professional and mature enough to get through it," he said. "And now it's just easy. We're just friends. And she's got James, and James and I are friends." As of October 2009, Bush is reported to be dating fellow One Tree Hill co-star Austin Nichols.
Bush has been supportive of Barack Obama as President. In February 2008, she made several appearances in Texas in support of the Obama campaign in the Texas Presidential primary election. She was joined in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Waco by fellow actor Adam Rodriguez. Touring mostly college campuses, they urged young voters to get involved politically.
In April 2009, along with stars including Sarah Chalke, Jason Lewis, Alicia Silverstone, Jane Lynch and Lance Bass, Bush appeared in a video on Funny or Die called "A Gaythering Storm", which parodied a NOM video objecting to same-sex marriage.

In late April 2007, Bush ranked #90 in the UK's popular men's magazine FHM, in their countdown of 100 Sexiest Women of 2007. Subsequently, she ranked #89 in the US edition of the same magazine. In May 2007, Bush ranked high at #24 in the Maxim Hot 100 List of 2007. She has also appeared on the cover of the November 2006 edition of Maxim with One Tree Hill co-stars Hilarie Burton and Danneel Harris. In previous years, Bush has ranked #3 on Femme Fatales: The 50 Sexiest Women of 2004 and named #15 on Much Music's 20 Hottest Women of 2004.
Bush has been featured in People's "Beautiful at Every Age" and "Most Beautiful" for several years.