This article is part of a series profiling the inspiring women of Together Live, a band of all-female storytellers who will travel across the U.S. this fall, spreading love, laughter, and hope. In 10 cities, big and small, the intimate one-night-only events serve as a reminder that no matter what divides us, women are strongest when we come together. Learn more about Together Live here—and get excited to join the party.

You may remember Sophia Bush as the it-girl of the early aughts. Starring as Brooke on the teen juggernaut, One Tree Hill, and as Beth in the ultimate revenge film, John Tucker Must Die—the media feverishly covered her every move. But what they weren’t writing about was what was happening beneath the surface—the fact that Bush was coming into her own as an activist. Bush first became vocal about humanitarian causes in regard to the environment, but since has spoken out about everything from the harassment she’s experienced on sets, to voting rights. Last year she participated in the viral hashtag #WhyIDidntReport movement—thanking Christine Blasey Ford and sharing her own experience of assault. Before that, she was also a founding member of Time’s Up.

Here, Bush let’s us in on the people who have told her to not speak out, but rather to stay in her lane, and why she refused to listen.

Glamour: You’ve been a loud and proud advocate for the causes close to your heart, whether it’s your work with Time’s Up or I Am a Voter. How did you first decide to trust your voice, and fight for the things you care about?

Sophia Bush: In my experience, the truth itself has an energy, like a drum beat. It makes noise inside of me. And there is nothing to do but speak it. It will never quiet down, nor should it. I’ve always been outspoken about justice, but I do remember when that personal tendency went public after Deepwater Horizon and the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster it caused. As a lifelong lover of this planet of ours, I was incensed at the environmental injustice I was witnessing. And I still am! We have so much work to do. But the work won’t get done if we don’t first have the conversation about the issue at hand. That’s step number one. And we can take our action steps from there.

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