Fifteen months ago, during a recap episode of the “Drama Queens” podcast, guest Michaela McManus asked co-hosts Bethany Joy Lenz and Sophia Bush whether they’d ever write a book. Lenz responded that she often writes, and that she would love to tell her story. And then she revealed to listeners something shocking about herself. “I was in a cult for 10 years,” she said. “That would be a really valuable experience to write about — and the 10 years of recovery after that. There’s there’s a lot to tell.”

Four weeks later, she talked about the experience at length for the first time, speaking with Variety over Zoom. As she sat outside her Nashville home, we spoke for 45 minutes about the shame she felt, how her “One Tree Hill” cast tried to help and how she ultimately overcame the fear she had about leaving the group.

Now, 11 months after that interview,...