Sophia Bush opens up on midterms, her new book — and why she won’t say Trump’s name

Don’t count Sophia Bush among the performers who plan on stepping back from making their voices heard in the political world.

“What would I do? Silence myself? Take away one of my most important rights to be more palatable or more hirable to people I don’t know? That’s not something that I’m interested in,” Bush said in a recent interview with ITK, when asked if it was a tough choice to decide whether to get involved in politics back in 2008 when she campaigned for then-Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

“If anything, I think that my ability to have had these experiences, to be out on the campaign trail, to see myself in all of my neighbors — whether they’re in small town Texas or northern Vermont or the center of Los Angeles — is something that makes me a better advocate, but it also makes me a better actor,” the 44-year-old “Work in Progress” podcast host said.

“I connect with people in a very real way and feel like I can tell their stories no matter where they’re from. And the only way I can do that is actually by showing up somewhere to advocate and then listening to them, listening to their stories, listening to their experiences, understanding what their pain points are, what they need from this country that they’re not getting and that they clearly deserve,” she said.

The former “One Tree Hill” and “Chicago P.D.” star opened up about life in both the entertainment and political spotlight in a wide-ranging conversation about her new book, “And I Will Tell You Mine.”

“You have stories you’re finally ready to tell, and I think for me, after years of advocating for other people and for community, it felt really special to turn that patient attention inward and actually decide to share some things about my own personal individual life,” Bush said of her first foray into literature.

The book details her upbringing in Los Angeles and how she........

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