The character is said to have "blown away every stereotype the media has placed on cheerleaders".

For two years, Burton was "one of the hottest VJs on MTV - both in looks and onscreen activities". She was the host of her own show, MTV's Hits, helped launch the network's Beach House from the New Jersey shore in May 2002 and was a regular on TRL. Her MTV VJ job became a "door-opener" for other career opportunities, and led to her being cast as Peyton. Burton, who favored acting as a career, auditioned for the part of Ed Harris's daughter in the film Radio. She was encouraged by subsequent callbacks, but did not land the role. The casting department, however, remembered her and asked her to send an audition tape for One Tree Hill, and producers promised her a character that she could sink her teeth into – Peyton. "[Burton] is an old soul," said Mark Schwahn, the series' creator. "She's great. She's always just thrilled to do the job, even though she's kind of new to acting. She's just a joy to be around." Burton said, "I've never studied acting or anything because I've been so lucky with MTV. I'm convinced I got the chance to be on One Tree Hill because I did a guest thing on Dawson's Creek as myself, when the cast appeared at the MTV Beach House." She added, "And my only scene was with Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott). So, now The Chad and I are reunited. How bizarre is that?"

Regarding her new life as an actress, Burton said, "Actors like to think their lives are very difficult, but they're not. Yeah, you're running around a lot. But I used to work in a supermarket and in a bar. That was hard. This is fun."

Peyton has been described as beautiful, smart, fiercely independent, and as someone who is often a victim on the series. "My character is a good girl, but she is also kind of [sexually] suggestive. This is definitely not your mom's drama," said Burton. "She's very contradictory. Yes, she is a cheerleader, but she also goes home and listens to punk music. She's into really dark art and probably rips the heads off of Barbie dolls. Basically, she's a train wreck." Burton said the character may be "a train wreck" but that she was "so glad [that someone was] putting a girl like her on TV. You don't have to be one thing. Peyton has made that OK".

Burton said she herself was torn between cheerleading and hobbies which would not necessarily be considered hobbies of a cheerleader while in high school. "That’s part of the reason I took the show, because I was like, holy cow, this was me in high school." Burton said there are always stereotypes in high school. "People get put into groups. "You’re a jock, you’re a cheerleader, you’re a freak, you’re in the drama department. I had a lot of trouble fitting into those groups when I was in high school because I wanted to be a part of all of them," she said. "I think that’s how a lot of people are. Some people have the nerve to go ahead and branch out and be a part of everything and some people don’t." She said One Tree Hill represents people who are multidimensional and who like more than one thing. "People do like more than one thing. It’s nice that [One Tree Hill] shows that," she stated.

Burton said that portraying a younger age (16 at 21) was not a problem, except for one aspect: "My only concern was when I had to put on my cheerleading uniform again. You forget how nerve-racking that is – the vulnerability of wearing bloomers." She said she reread some of her journals from high school to get "into that place" as a high school student again, and that Peyton being similar to how she was in high school helped. "It also helped that the town where we film, Wilmington, isn’t too different from the hometown where I grew up in Virginia. Both [are] small towns where high school sports played a big part," she stated.

Initially, the character was not well-received. She came off as too angry and bitchy to some viewers. "At first, the audience rejected her character because, well, she was mean to our hero (Lucas)," said Schwann. "And she's pretty and popular." Burton stated, "She was catching a lot of flack. [People were saying], 'Oh, she's this cheerleader. She's like, you know, this cute little girl. She wants to be all hard and angry.'" Schwann decided to soften the character a little, which included bonding her to character Haley James, Lucas's best friend, and the character eventually caught on. "That's [was] our challenge, because she [was designed as, and became] the moral center of the show," said Schwann.

The character's wardrobe originally encompassed a rocker yet still feminine look. She would drive around in a vintage car, listening to loud rock, often wearing a Ramones T-shirt. "[Burton] – I just love her. Working with her (has) been wonderful. For her, she’s more of the do-it-yourself girl. She’s so into music, art, she’s such a rich character that there are a lot of different things to draw on, stated One Tree Hill’s costume designer, Carol Cutshall. "Sometimes she’ll just be in a plaid flannel shirt because she’s painting. Some days she’ll be in a concert T-shirt. We have to find the right concert T-shirt. I do alter them a lot." Cutshall would take a men’s concert T-shirt, and have Burton put it on. "She’s also very, very slender, so I’ll taper them down to her figure. We come out of it with kind of a one-o-f-a-kind rock T-shirt. I take something and then turn it into my own piece of clothing," said Cutshall. Peyton’s main brands have been Cheap Monday, Levi’s, some Diesel and Miss Sixty.

Schwann eventually began to change the character's styles, especially in Season 4 and up. Burton said, "Peyton's wardrobe has changed quite a bit, which is nice for me, because I am a... In real-life I am [several years older], and was wearing T-shirts and jeans, and Converse sneakers for five years." She said that after some time, it weighed on her femininity. With the four-year timeline jump, Peyton got to wear more skirts and dresses, and shorter ones. "Boobs aren't bigger, but legs are out," said Burton.

Schwahn had Peyton's personality compliment Lucas's, and described their love story as a soulmate/meant to be one. Burton explained her character's attraction to Lucas, saying she sees Peyton as questioning a lot about her life, as Murray envisions Lucas doing, and thinks Peyton often differs from her friends on what is important – much like Murray has said he felt as a child.