'One Tree Hill' star Hilarie Burton Morgan is proudly embracing her gray hair at 41

Hilarie Burton Morgan is embracing her natural gray hair and loving it!

At just 41, the One Tree Hill star to going against Hollywood expectations and sporting and celebrating her gray hair.

In a recent appearance on The View, the actress opened up about her natural transition and what it means in an industry that often places a premium on perpetual youth.

"It’s a weird thing when you were a teen drama actress, and the expectation to be 17 forever is out there," Burton Morgan reflected.

The past hasn't always been kind to the actress. She candidly admitted: "I dealt with some dark stuff in my younger years." But moving away from that period and evolving into someone more experienced and assertive is something she looks forward to. "So this idea that you can level up and get to the place where you’re the salty one in the room was exciting to me," she added.

Her aspirations don't align with the cookie-cutter Hollywood starlet. Instead, her inspirations are icons like Bea Arthur, Ruth Gordon, and the beloved Betty White. As the host of the Drama Queens podcast mentioned: "That’s who I wanted to be. So going gray early had been a relief."

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Co-host Joy Behar highlighted the rising trend of women embracing their grays, to which Burton Morgan playfully asserted: “Well good, yeah. We’re going to take over the world.”

However, this is not the first time she has spoken about her silver locks. While promoting her recent book, Grimoire Girl: Creating an Inheritance of Magic and Mischief, she conveyed similar sentiments to PEOPLE.

The Walking Dead star said at the time: "I think people put so much emphasis on staying young forever. But I have found so much more fulfillment and respect and success and happiness the second I was like, ‘I'm not going to play by those rules anymore.’"

While Burton Morgan started her TV career fresh out of high school, she feels that her younger years, which she gave entirely to the audience, weren't always respected - and embracing her gray hair is symbolic of her breaking free from those confines.

Moreover, she aptly points out the gender double standards in the industry. Her husband, who she affectionately calls a "silver fox", has never faced scrutiny over his graying hair. So, why should she?

In an industry that’s notorious for its relentless pursuit of youth, Hilarie Burton Morgan's powerful message for women everywhere is that age is just a number, and beauty can be redefined.

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