Tree Hill's Robert Buckley: "Dan Isn't Out of the Picture Just Yet"

When viewers last saw One Tree Hill's new hottie Clay, played by Robert Buckley, he managed to go from near rock-bottom to riding high. But nothing on the CW drama ever gets wrapped up with a nice bow. TVGuide.com spoke to Buckley about how he's "not out of the woods yet," if Dan said goodbye for good, and why Buckley thinks his character is much cooler than he is in real life.

TVGuide.com: Last we saw Clay, he professed his love for Quinn and Nathan was back as his client. Will things continue to go well for him?
Robert Buckley: As we come to find in Tree Hill, especially with Clay, he has not had the best luck. While things are good right now, I think he's not quite out of the woods yet. Clay still did make a big mistake [and] we've already seen that the friends/business component of [his and Nathan's] relationship can cause problems. We'll see if they can find the balance between being friends, dating his sister-in-law, being his agent and making all three of those work.

TVGuide.com: Clay's played the field a bit since his stay in Tree Hill, so will he really be able to settle down with Quinn?
Buckley: I would hope so after making such a grand declaration of love. From what we've seen between Clay and Quinn there's clearly a different dynamic between the two of them than all the other women we've seen him have these affairs with. I think they do have a chance of making a good go of it.

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TVGuide.com: I hear there's a new man in town?
Buckley: That new guy is going to be working closely with Brooke, and Julian is working close to Alex, so it's going to be another variable in the equation of are Julian and Brooke going to work out? It might present itself as a possible obstacle or opportunity, we'll see in the next couple of episodes as they work together.

TVGuide.com: Will we continue to delve into Clay's background?
Buckley: We'll still continue to learn a bit about Clay's past, but it will be a much smaller component. At some point the audience had to find out a good chunk of Clay's past to inform his behavior, where he was coming from and what was going on in his head, but now it's more about the present and moving forward and seeing what happens with his new agency and his new relationship with Quinn.

TVGuide.com: What's been the most fun scene you've shot so far?
Buckley: Oddly enough the scene between Dan and Clay where Clay gets absolutely manhandled. It was the first time I had worked with Paul [Johansson], so I had no idea what to expect from him. I was a little bit nervous but it ended up being really great because we both went for it and he just tosses me around like a rag doll.

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TVGuide.com: You've had quite a few beach scenes.
Buckley: The last one we shot, the water was starting to get cold and I was like, "OK, we've packed a lot of Clay in the ocean into the first half of the season, we're probably good now." I think Clay can stay dry for a little while.

TVGuide.com: I guess it's also safe to say we haven't seen the last of Dan?
Buckley: Yes, Dan isn't exactly out of the picture just yet. For someone working on Season 7, Dan seems like a great guy. You would've thought he's this great motivational speaker, cares about his son, and all of a sudden he just snaps in that episode. That's what I like about him. He's volatile, he pops up and does crazy things, he's exciting [and] he's fun to watch.

TVGuide.com: Which Tree Hill character are you most like in real life?
Buckley: A lot of the core elements of Clay I kind of find in myself, or I can say I've infused in the character of Clay to make him more genuine. My car in real life is nowhere near as cool as the 'vette Clay drives, his house, his car, he ... has more grand of a life than I do but that's no complaint.