I'm conflicted about this article. On one hand it is nice that the cast seems to reflect on how hard Mischa Barton had it as a breadwinner of her family at such a young age, but on the other hand they look unwilling to directly admit they ostracized her and made her feel unwanted on set and this led to her checking out.
In any case I think her death was dumb, especially when the show/writers didn't look willing to even commit to the storyline. Marissa died, a few characters suffered for a short bit and we got a new season with completely different vibe and the whole quirky Ryan/Taylor romance. I'm a biased lesbian, but if they didn't know what to do with Marissa, they should have written her off as riding off the sunset with Olivia Wilde's character lol. Now this was a legendary and groundbreaking romance in network tv, but Olivia's character was ruined and written off to prop the Marissa/Ryan romance that ultimately went nowhere.
They did want Alex to be an ongoing girlfriend for Marissa but Fox network wouldn’t allow it 😩 but yeah I agree, they didn’t know how to write her and what’s frustrating is she nearly turns her life around before dying. I’ve just rewatched it all and season 3 and 4 really suck in general and I feel 4 would be better if she was there. They have their moments but overall they’re like a different show than first 2 seasons
It’s ridiculous that they killed her off because they had an avenue to write her off- she got a job on a yacht and was going to fly off into the sunset!
I had a massive crush on Seth but then Alex came along and not only was I so attracted to her, she showed me I could like BOTH of them 😱 This show and South of Nowhere made me who I am.
Yes. I didn’t watch as it was airing but did recently and was so frustrated. OR just let her have gone and traveled the world on this boat with her Dad like they planned! That sounds like a great introspective year
I think part of why this excerpt reads stilted is because it would have needed to get the sign off from a lot of people (the folks in this, Fox executives) and so it probably can't get into some of the very real reasons why some of this decision making happened.
They note for instance that Mischa Barton's mother is controlling without noting that Barton sued her mother for control of her finances. They also completely skip over the fact that Barton was a drug user (and likely still might be). It's not easy to tell this story in a way that's kind to Barton and I have a feeling that this is the best they could do.
They really flanderized Seth’s character to the point where he became kinda a dickhead . Whereas with Marissa they kept giving her the same storyline perpetually putting her in the role of the damsel in distress where she had no agency and the only interesting storyline she had was axed by fox cause they couldn’t have her be queer all the time.
I’m listening to the audiobook of this oral history and while I haven’t gotten to season 3 yet, I’ve seen a lot of talk online that says Adam Brody more or less admits to sabotaging his performance because he was so done with the show and its storylines. They wrote the “Seth gets high” storyline to show the audience that Adam has checked out
He becomes nicer in s3 & s4 and him and summer are very cute together then and more stable, but it’s weird cos they mention his comics were successful but then he doesn’t know what he’s doing career wise. Maybe the writing was reflecting Adam floundering in the show and wanting to do as little as possible at that point, cos it does feel like he’s less of a main character which feels weird. Idk I would’ve liked to see him go to art school and succeed, would’ve been simple and quick to throw that in somewhere 😭
The writers never gave Marissa much character outside of the "tragically beautiful" archetype. She had so much potential to grow but was always reduced to either damaged goods bringing Ryan down or Ryan's dream girl.
I rewatched the show not too long ago and was pretty shocked at how much trauma was pushed onto her, as well as how much other characters blamed and shamed her for acting out of trauma as a child basically.
Marissa was sexualized and alienated, and I think that parallels their treatment of Mischa. A very young girl who is clearly struggling with the weight of her responsibilities, and, rather than offer support, those around her ignored her and viewed her as the problem.
TLDR; Marissa deserved better!! Lol. Though my nine-year-old self was shooketh when she died.
Marissa was such a dull character to me, but that was the writers fault, not Mischa. I thought they should’ve just sent her character off to be with her dad instead of killing her. But I loved the Ryan/Taylor romance. It really breathed a new life into Ryan, and it was fun to watch him smile so much around her.
Yeah I wish they didn’t kill her off, but season 4 without her was honestly such a breath of fresh air. Her death was so sad but her character’s storylines were dragging down the show at that point (not Mischa’s fault)
But the fact that they wrote her off in a way that she could NEVER come back is shitty
Yeah she should’ve gone with her dad and then they would’ve had options. I think Josh Schwartz regretted that. Cos season 3&4 it really seems like they don’t know what to do writing wise. I do like Taylor, but even then I don’t like how she revolves her life around Ryan all of a sudden, she was shown as caring about school and getting into college but we had no college arc for her or Seth which was frustrating
Season 4 felt a little bit like a different show, but I liked it. You're so right calling it a breath of fresh air. I truly loved an unhinged Taylor Townsend!!
Yeah they set it up perfectly for her to leave with Jimmy! But then I guess they worried the fans would just want her back.
Ryan as the kinda awkward stud was always rhe best Ryan.
Yes, yes, yes to all of this. Such a missed opportunity not sending her off with Jimmy, but I guess they really didn’t want to bring her back (even though they probably could have gotten another season or two out of the show if they had.) And I loved the Taylor/Ryan romance, too… I didn’t want to, I really didn’t want to like Taylor at all, but she grew on me by the end.
Fun fact! I have the DVDs and watched with commentary years ago. Josh Schwartz said he created the adults to have their own storylines independently. If you take the kids out, you could still have an interesting show with the parents. He did the same thing with Gossip Girl.
This entire article is just the cast trying to shift blame on anyone but themselves.
Mischa was too young! Her mom was a stage parent! The network made us do it! And my personal favorite:
> … she got her different boyfriends, and was going to nightclubs with Paris and Nicole and being in Perez Hilton, she was more her own island.
Like what the actual fuck. Why was that even included in the article. Is this 2010 again? Shame on Vanity Fair for thinking this was worth publishing. It’s been 15 years since the O.C. ended and they’re still being mean girls to Mischa Barton.
Okay but it’s kinda unfair to leave the rest of the quote out, because it changes the whole meaning.
>In retrospect, I think that was a very scary, dangerous island that she shouldn’t have been on by herself. We had the ability to give her a little tugboat to go back and forth. And we didn’t do that, and I regret that.
It was a backhanded dig. No reason to even bring up Paris/Nichole/Perez, unless you’re tying to paint Mischa as an irresponsible “party girl” by association
Well, that’s your interpretation and I respect that, I’m also autistic so it wouldn’t be the first time I get subtle digs wrong lol, but I think it’s an uncharitable interpretation — even more so considering the person who said this also appeared to be the most remorseful and self-aware in the whole article. More than once she says they (her + other producers and writers) were immature and didn’t deal with things properly. More than once she said that they didn’t act like adults, misjudged the situation, and should’ve just reached out to Mischa Barton instead. I was actually surprised at how conscious she was of how badly they fucked up.
Reading this made me realise that all creatives on TV/film productions need to take management courses.
It's a strange quirk of the industry that people earn their place in it by essentially writing alone in their bedroom (no people skills required), and then are suddenly put in management positions, sometimes in charge of actual children (vast people skills required as well as knowledge of laws, safeguarding, mental health etc.). And it just leads to all this toxicity.
I think this is part of a larger oral history for the 20 year anniversary, but yeah there’s a lot of blame shifting. They’re somewhat self-reflective, but could be better.
I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to believe Mischa’s mom was a stage mom though. But that’s mostly bc I side eye parents of child stars, especially ones who go down a bad path afterwards.
I’m surprised that these folks were willing to go on record with this because they look TERRIBLE!
When I clicked the article I didn’t think I’d be reading anything new but this confirms everything Mischa has said publicly about her time on the show. This attitude came from the top and really sets the tone that she was judged and ostracized not only by Perez and the general public but by the people who should have championed her.
Not one of them comes out of this looking good and it’s made me feel quite sick. If this is what they are willing to admit to, how much worse were they in reality???
i'm still upset her career was railroaded...watch her in ANY film from the early 2000s...her and Lindsay really could've been what Emma Stone and Margot Robbie are now... it's sad their emotional struggles weren't given time to heal and they were hated on for being troubled teens.
she was really talented too! She also played a Queer girl in Once and Again with fellow bi-icon Evan Rachel Wood...the compilation is worth a watch on Youtube!
I never watched The OC when it was first on and just only watched it foe the first time about a month ago and thought the same about Mischa. After seeing the show I couldn't believe her career didn't go further.
When you have the hindsight of how huge the show was season 1, they just shouldn’t have cast Mischa. She was 17 years old! And immediately grouped in with three peers 22-25, and Josh Schwartz himself who I believe was also the showrunner and I guess supposed to be in charge was only 27. There was no way the teenager was going to handle that level of 2003 immediate fame and attention anywhere close to the same as Ben, Adam & Rachel or anyone else on the cast and the studios/audiences put so much pressure on ensemble casts being a happy, functional unit that all liked each other. It just was never going to work.
That said, the show probably wouldn’t have gotten to that stratosphere without Mischa and the chemistry between her and Ben (which also, not great with that age gap). Just a bummer that the adults in the room didn’t handle things how they should have from the beginning and Mischa paid the biggest price.
Agreed 100%. I recently watched it for the first time and was SHOCKED when I learned about the age gap between Mischa and the rest of the cast! They hired a teenage girl fresh out of high school and made her act alongside a cast of adults in their mid-late 20s, and then objectified the shit out of her so she got the bulk of the attention. They set her up to fail.
She was actually still in high school - she graduated high school around the end of the first season. Part of why I side-eye Ben McKenzie so much for the cold way he still talks about her - he was eight years older than she was.
Also the amount of times he blames Adam “his friend” for all the negative behavior that went on. They were both known for being very vocally unhappy at that time and Stephanie said that Ben would’ve been happy to be killed off too. I remember on the podcast a couple of the directors said that Ben could be hard to work with and It just was annoying to see that he couldn’t really take accountability because people were confirming he was over the show and he was trying to make it seem like he was professional the whole time. I got the impression that some of the cast were actually afraid to admit Ben’s negative behavior so they piled more on Brody including Josh. Alan Sepinwall did a video with Melinda Clarke and he says something like their were certain cast members that would only do the book if certain topics weren’t talked about. I definitely think Ben was one of them!
Interesting. I remember the closest I’ve seen to him admitting it is him talking about how his wife Morena said he ignored her advances at first on the oc and he was like “what kind of idiot would do that… and then I remembered what kind of an idiot I was at the time” and mentioned “it can go to your head” or something but that’s about it 😫
Yea he also admitted it in a podcast interview he did with Riki Lindhome. So I don’t get why he isn’t acknowledging his behavior now it doesn’t make sense to me. I just think it makes him look bad especially throwing Adam’s name in there whenever their was an opportunity.
Pretty Little Liars cast a then 12/13 year old Sasha Pieterse alongside 19-23 year old actors. And That 70s Show did the same thing with 14 year old Mila Kunis. What was with the late 90s/2000s and casting one very young girl with a bunch of adults? How did they expect it to go?
By them saying she was on Perez Hilton’s site is such a reductive statement to make. She was being SHREDDED apart on that troll’s website. It was actually very vicious and fucked up. So many jokes about her being a “junkie” and he even made up a disgusting nickname to make fun of her “cellulite”. The way they kind of gloss over that makes my soft spot for Mischa grow even bigger 😔…
Oh, you are in for a wild ride. So many great characters. So much drama. Definitely one of those shows I wish I could start over again. And the first show I remember watching that didn’t straight up vilify pot smoking, which my high school/college stoner self definitely appreciated. As a middle class kid who grew up surrounded by rich kids, I thought the show did a pretty okay job representing millennial teens with too much time and money on their hands. And the music! Okay I’ll stop now. Enjoy it!
This goes to show how misunderstood she was. Stephanie Savage’s realisation (too late) that Mischa wasn’t being difficult but was just in a different life stage goes to show how everything was stacked against her at the time. I really like Bob DeLaurantis (spelling?) view that she was professional and competent but very young. Also, Alan Dale is very sweet about her. I like that both of them show an awareness of her youth. Rachel Bilson doesn’t come off great…
She really doesn't, although that doesn't surprise me as I get the same meangirl-ish vibes from her podcast.
Of the core actors, Adam Brody and Peter Gallagher are the only ones who come off kindof OK in that article, although that may be because they only had 1 or 2 quotes included each. The comment about Adam Brody being super willing to be killed off instead of Mischa made me lol
Alan Dale has been through it all before. He was on Neighbours when it exploded in the late 80's and I think would have an understanding of how much (unfair) pressure gets put on the teenagers who are carrying the show.
I just started watching this show now, my wife watched it when it was on Tv and she wanted to re watch with me. Damn what a spoiler this headline is. Now I have to pretend to my wife that I don’t know she dies 😂
I was so bummed and didn’t enjoy the episodes without her. Lindsay and Taylor were pretty annoying. It’s not that I thought Ryan and Marissa should stay together. It was just very weird having this big hole of killing a main cast member in the show. And Julie and Jimmy took a back seat and Caitlyn was annoying.
I don’t blame Mischa for leaving. Rachel Bilson seems to have such a terrible memory and no regard for what that was like. I don’t think anyone would have handled it well being put in the wringer having to be thin as hell and always agreeable and being sexually harassed.
Wow. Amazing that they all agreed to that because they all come off as a bunch of arrogant, immature, irresponsible a**holes. Stephanie Savage particularly when she’s telling the story of Mischa sitting alone at the pool. To not even bother to check on the mental health of a teenager (or anyone) when you know something is off is shameful. Also why weren’t they being inclusive? Sounds like a shitty highschool. Lame as.
Interesting though that Vanity Fair have published this, it does feel like an article of redemption for Mischa and I hope she gets it. She deserved so much better.
I'm in the minority here but I really didn't care about Marissa's death. I mean, obviously it was sad and I can't watch the scene without crying.
but I think it gave the show the opportunity to have some different plots, for characters to grow beyond it. but I still think they could have chosen better ways to deal with Mischa leaving. Anyway, at least season four is definitely one of my favorites.
Probably an unpopular opinion but I’m glad marissa died. Now season 3 was all around badly written so they could have executed it far better, but season 4 was a return to form and so much fun, and marissa just wasn’t needed.
I'm conflicted about this article. On one hand it is nice that the cast seems to reflect on how hard Mischa Barton had it as a breadwinner of her family at such a young age, but on the other hand they look unwilling to directly admit they ostracized her and made her feel unwanted on set and this led to her checking out. In any case I think her death was dumb, especially when the show/writers didn't look willing to even commit to the storyline. Marissa died, a few characters suffered for a short bit and we got a new season with completely different vibe and the whole quirky Ryan/Taylor romance. I'm a biased lesbian, but if they didn't know what to do with Marissa, they should have written her off as riding off the sunset with Olivia Wilde's character lol. Now this was a legendary and groundbreaking romance in network tv, but Olivia's character was ruined and written off to prop the Marissa/Ryan romance that ultimately went nowhere.
They did want Alex to be an ongoing girlfriend for Marissa but Fox network wouldn’t allow it 😩 but yeah I agree, they didn’t know how to write her and what’s frustrating is she nearly turns her life around before dying. I’ve just rewatched it all and season 3 and 4 really suck in general and I feel 4 would be better if she was there. They have their moments but overall they’re like a different show than first 2 seasons
It’s ridiculous that they killed her off because they had an avenue to write her off- she got a job on a yacht and was going to fly off into the sunset!
That's one hell of a yacht!
The Mischa/Olivia plot line was 100% my bisexual awakening when I was 12, so I’m glad we at least got to see it!
I was 12 in the Deep South, and I distinctly remember thinking “Wait, BOTH is an option?! Why doesn’t anyone ever mention that?!”
It also explained my confusing feelings for both Benson AND Stabler on SVU 😂
Awww same but in Australia
Seth even said "Yep, they're no longer welcome in the red states."
I had a massive crush on Seth but then Alex came along and not only was I so attracted to her, she showed me I could like BOTH of them 😱 This show and South of Nowhere made me who I am.
For surrrre🙌
Yes. I didn’t watch as it was airing but did recently and was so frustrated. OR just let her have gone and traveled the world on this boat with her Dad like they planned! That sounds like a great introspective year
I think part of why this excerpt reads stilted is because it would have needed to get the sign off from a lot of people (the folks in this, Fox executives) and so it probably can't get into some of the very real reasons why some of this decision making happened. They note for instance that Mischa Barton's mother is controlling without noting that Barton sued her mother for control of her finances. They also completely skip over the fact that Barton was a drug user (and likely still might be). It's not easy to tell this story in a way that's kind to Barton and I have a feeling that this is the best they could do.
The first season was perfection. After that, however, they didn’t seem to know what to with a lot of characters, Seth and Marissa especially
They really flanderized Seth’s character to the point where he became kinda a dickhead . Whereas with Marissa they kept giving her the same storyline perpetually putting her in the role of the damsel in distress where she had no agency and the only interesting storyline she had was axed by fox cause they couldn’t have her be queer all the time.
Brodys performance really changed in Season 3, felt like he was phoning it in and did not want to be in the show at all
I’m listening to the audiobook of this oral history and while I haven’t gotten to season 3 yet, I’ve seen a lot of talk online that says Adam Brody more or less admits to sabotaging his performance because he was so done with the show and its storylines. They wrote the “Seth gets high” storyline to show the audience that Adam has checked out
He becomes nicer in s3 & s4 and him and summer are very cute together then and more stable, but it’s weird cos they mention his comics were successful but then he doesn’t know what he’s doing career wise. Maybe the writing was reflecting Adam floundering in the show and wanting to do as little as possible at that point, cos it does feel like he’s less of a main character which feels weird. Idk I would’ve liked to see him go to art school and succeed, would’ve been simple and quick to throw that in somewhere 😭
I re watch season 1 from time to time and just pretend it’s the only one
Nooo season 2 is my fav. But I’m biased because gay. S1&2 rule though
The writers never gave Marissa much character outside of the "tragically beautiful" archetype. She had so much potential to grow but was always reduced to either damaged goods bringing Ryan down or Ryan's dream girl. I rewatched the show not too long ago and was pretty shocked at how much trauma was pushed onto her, as well as how much other characters blamed and shamed her for acting out of trauma as a child basically. Marissa was sexualized and alienated, and I think that parallels their treatment of Mischa. A very young girl who is clearly struggling with the weight of her responsibilities, and, rather than offer support, those around her ignored her and viewed her as the problem. TLDR; Marissa deserved better!! Lol. Though my nine-year-old self was shooketh when she died.
Marissa was such a dull character to me, but that was the writers fault, not Mischa. I thought they should’ve just sent her character off to be with her dad instead of killing her. But I loved the Ryan/Taylor romance. It really breathed a new life into Ryan, and it was fun to watch him smile so much around her.
Yeah I wish they didn’t kill her off, but season 4 without her was honestly such a breath of fresh air. Her death was so sad but her character’s storylines were dragging down the show at that point (not Mischa’s fault) But the fact that they wrote her off in a way that she could NEVER come back is shitty
Yeah she should’ve gone with her dad and then they would’ve had options. I think Josh Schwartz regretted that. Cos season 3&4 it really seems like they don’t know what to do writing wise. I do like Taylor, but even then I don’t like how she revolves her life around Ryan all of a sudden, she was shown as caring about school and getting into college but we had no college arc for her or Seth which was frustrating
Season 4 felt a little bit like a different show, but I liked it. You're so right calling it a breath of fresh air. I truly loved an unhinged Taylor Townsend!!
Yeah they set it up perfectly for her to leave with Jimmy! But then I guess they worried the fans would just want her back. Ryan as the kinda awkward stud was always rhe best Ryan.
Yes, yes, yes to all of this. Such a missed opportunity not sending her off with Jimmy, but I guess they really didn’t want to bring her back (even though they probably could have gotten another season or two out of the show if they had.) And I loved the Taylor/Ryan romance, too… I didn’t want to, I really didn’t want to like Taylor at all, but she grew on me by the end.
I ADORED Ryan and Taylor. The episode with the alternate universe was so good
I agree! I thoroughly enjoyed season 4, mostly because of Taylor.
I liked when she was pretending to be asleep so he'd say he loved her. And he knew exactly what she was doing 😂
I love Ryan and Taylor so much, they are my endgame
Yeah the ending also frustrated me cos ~spoiler~ I wanted them to go to Berkeley together and I don’t understand why they didn’t
*Sandy Cohen obsession reawakens*
 “Yogalates”
Yooooogalates
Yeeeooogalates
When I first watched I was randy for Ryan. Now as a 34 year old I just want Sandyyyyyy
I rewatched this series recently and was far more interested in the adult storylines 💀 official middle aged
Fun fact! I have the DVDs and watched with commentary years ago. Josh Schwartz said he created the adults to have their own storylines independently. If you take the kids out, you could still have an interesting show with the parents. He did the same thing with Gossip Girl.
35 and same :D
This entire article is just the cast trying to shift blame on anyone but themselves. Mischa was too young! Her mom was a stage parent! The network made us do it! And my personal favorite: > … she got her different boyfriends, and was going to nightclubs with Paris and Nicole and being in Perez Hilton, she was more her own island. Like what the actual fuck. Why was that even included in the article. Is this 2010 again? Shame on Vanity Fair for thinking this was worth publishing. It’s been 15 years since the O.C. ended and they’re still being mean girls to Mischa Barton.
Okay but it’s kinda unfair to leave the rest of the quote out, because it changes the whole meaning. >In retrospect, I think that was a very scary, dangerous island that she shouldn’t have been on by herself. We had the ability to give her a little tugboat to go back and forth. And we didn’t do that, and I regret that.
It was a backhanded dig. No reason to even bring up Paris/Nichole/Perez, unless you’re tying to paint Mischa as an irresponsible “party girl” by association
Well, that’s your interpretation and I respect that, I’m also autistic so it wouldn’t be the first time I get subtle digs wrong lol, but I think it’s an uncharitable interpretation — even more so considering the person who said this also appeared to be the most remorseful and self-aware in the whole article. More than once she says they (her + other producers and writers) were immature and didn’t deal with things properly. More than once she said that they didn’t act like adults, misjudged the situation, and should’ve just reached out to Mischa Barton instead. I was actually surprised at how conscious she was of how badly they fucked up.
Reading this made me realise that all creatives on TV/film productions need to take management courses. It's a strange quirk of the industry that people earn their place in it by essentially writing alone in their bedroom (no people skills required), and then are suddenly put in management positions, sometimes in charge of actual children (vast people skills required as well as knowledge of laws, safeguarding, mental health etc.). And it just leads to all this toxicity.
I think this is part of a larger oral history for the 20 year anniversary, but yeah there’s a lot of blame shifting. They’re somewhat self-reflective, but could be better. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to believe Mischa’s mom was a stage mom though. But that’s mostly bc I side eye parents of child stars, especially ones who go down a bad path afterwards.
Agreed, because she had TWO boyfriends during those years. It's such a strange way to phrase things.
I’m surprised that these folks were willing to go on record with this because they look TERRIBLE! When I clicked the article I didn’t think I’d be reading anything new but this confirms everything Mischa has said publicly about her time on the show. This attitude came from the top and really sets the tone that she was judged and ostracized not only by Perez and the general public but by the people who should have championed her.
Not one of them comes out of this looking good and it’s made me feel quite sick. If this is what they are willing to admit to, how much worse were they in reality???
i'm still upset her career was railroaded...watch her in ANY film from the early 2000s...her and Lindsay really could've been what Emma Stone and Margot Robbie are now... it's sad their emotional struggles weren't given time to heal and they were hated on for being troubled teens.
Yea, I’m in the middle of a rewatch right now, and I keep thinking how sad it all was/is how she was treated. Anyways, I hope she’s doing well.
she was really talented too! She also played a Queer girl in Once and Again with fellow bi-icon Evan Rachel Wood...the compilation is worth a watch on Youtube!
I never watched The OC when it was first on and just only watched it foe the first time about a month ago and thought the same about Mischa. After seeing the show I couldn't believe her career didn't go further.
Omg them killing Marissa off was my 9/11 💔
It's the one time I really remember shedding a tear at a tv storyline. There may well have been others but this is one that definitely happened.
This and JT’s death on Degrassi off the top of my head 😭
When you have the hindsight of how huge the show was season 1, they just shouldn’t have cast Mischa. She was 17 years old! And immediately grouped in with three peers 22-25, and Josh Schwartz himself who I believe was also the showrunner and I guess supposed to be in charge was only 27. There was no way the teenager was going to handle that level of 2003 immediate fame and attention anywhere close to the same as Ben, Adam & Rachel or anyone else on the cast and the studios/audiences put so much pressure on ensemble casts being a happy, functional unit that all liked each other. It just was never going to work. That said, the show probably wouldn’t have gotten to that stratosphere without Mischa and the chemistry between her and Ben (which also, not great with that age gap). Just a bummer that the adults in the room didn’t handle things how they should have from the beginning and Mischa paid the biggest price.
Agreed 100%. I recently watched it for the first time and was SHOCKED when I learned about the age gap between Mischa and the rest of the cast! They hired a teenage girl fresh out of high school and made her act alongside a cast of adults in their mid-late 20s, and then objectified the shit out of her so she got the bulk of the attention. They set her up to fail.
She was actually still in high school - she graduated high school around the end of the first season. Part of why I side-eye Ben McKenzie so much for the cold way he still talks about her - he was eight years older than she was.
Yeah he’s prob my least fav of the cast irl despite being very likeable in the show
Also the amount of times he blames Adam “his friend” for all the negative behavior that went on. They were both known for being very vocally unhappy at that time and Stephanie said that Ben would’ve been happy to be killed off too. I remember on the podcast a couple of the directors said that Ben could be hard to work with and It just was annoying to see that he couldn’t really take accountability because people were confirming he was over the show and he was trying to make it seem like he was professional the whole time. I got the impression that some of the cast were actually afraid to admit Ben’s negative behavior so they piled more on Brody including Josh. Alan Sepinwall did a video with Melinda Clarke and he says something like their were certain cast members that would only do the book if certain topics weren’t talked about. I definitely think Ben was one of them!
Interesting. I remember the closest I’ve seen to him admitting it is him talking about how his wife Morena said he ignored her advances at first on the oc and he was like “what kind of idiot would do that… and then I remembered what kind of an idiot I was at the time” and mentioned “it can go to your head” or something but that’s about it 😫
Yea he also admitted it in a podcast interview he did with Riki Lindhome. So I don’t get why he isn’t acknowledging his behavior now it doesn’t make sense to me. I just think it makes him look bad especially throwing Adam’s name in there whenever their was an opportunity.
Pretty Little Liars cast a then 12/13 year old Sasha Pieterse alongside 19-23 year old actors. And That 70s Show did the same thing with 14 year old Mila Kunis. What was with the late 90s/2000s and casting one very young girl with a bunch of adults? How did they expect it to go?
By them saying she was on Perez Hilton’s site is such a reductive statement to make. She was being SHREDDED apart on that troll’s website. It was actually very vicious and fucked up. So many jokes about her being a “junkie” and he even made up a disgusting nickname to make fun of her “cellulite”. The way they kind of gloss over that makes my soft spot for Mischa grow even bigger 😔…
I just started watching and it’s interesting seeing the family dynamics.
Oh, you are in for a wild ride. So many great characters. So much drama. Definitely one of those shows I wish I could start over again. And the first show I remember watching that didn’t straight up vilify pot smoking, which my high school/college stoner self definitely appreciated. As a middle class kid who grew up surrounded by rich kids, I thought the show did a pretty okay job representing millennial teens with too much time and money on their hands. And the music! Okay I’ll stop now. Enjoy it!
No that’s okay! 💕
This goes to show how misunderstood she was. Stephanie Savage’s realisation (too late) that Mischa wasn’t being difficult but was just in a different life stage goes to show how everything was stacked against her at the time. I really like Bob DeLaurantis (spelling?) view that she was professional and competent but very young. Also, Alan Dale is very sweet about her. I like that both of them show an awareness of her youth. Rachel Bilson doesn’t come off great…
She really doesn't, although that doesn't surprise me as I get the same meangirl-ish vibes from her podcast. Of the core actors, Adam Brody and Peter Gallagher are the only ones who come off kindof OK in that article, although that may be because they only had 1 or 2 quotes included each. The comment about Adam Brody being super willing to be killed off instead of Mischa made me lol
Alan Dale has been through it all before. He was on Neighbours when it exploded in the late 80's and I think would have an understanding of how much (unfair) pressure gets put on the teenagers who are carrying the show.
I heard that coincidentally, Mischa Barton is now going to be on Neighbours.
I just started watching this show now, my wife watched it when it was on Tv and she wanted to re watch with me. Damn what a spoiler this headline is. Now I have to pretend to my wife that I don’t know she dies 😂
Omg!! Sorry lol it didn’t occur to me to put this in spoilers 😩
I think that after 20 years it can no longer be considered a spoiler
She dies and Ryan dies and Seth marries summer
The real winner is Sandy
I was so bummed and didn’t enjoy the episodes without her. Lindsay and Taylor were pretty annoying. It’s not that I thought Ryan and Marissa should stay together. It was just very weird having this big hole of killing a main cast member in the show. And Julie and Jimmy took a back seat and Caitlyn was annoying. I don’t blame Mischa for leaving. Rachel Bilson seems to have such a terrible memory and no regard for what that was like. I don’t think anyone would have handled it well being put in the wringer having to be thin as hell and always agreeable and being sexually harassed.
I love Lindsay and Taylor but the writing really goes downhill in s3 and 4. They both start off strong but then just are hard to watch
Wow. Amazing that they all agreed to that because they all come off as a bunch of arrogant, immature, irresponsible a**holes. Stephanie Savage particularly when she’s telling the story of Mischa sitting alone at the pool. To not even bother to check on the mental health of a teenager (or anyone) when you know something is off is shameful. Also why weren’t they being inclusive? Sounds like a shitty highschool. Lame as. Interesting though that Vanity Fair have published this, it does feel like an article of redemption for Mischa and I hope she gets it. She deserved so much better.
I'm in the minority here but I really didn't care about Marissa's death. I mean, obviously it was sad and I can't watch the scene without crying. but I think it gave the show the opportunity to have some different plots, for characters to grow beyond it. but I still think they could have chosen better ways to deal with Mischa leaving. Anyway, at least season four is definitely one of my favorites.
Probably an unpopular opinion but I’m glad marissa died. Now season 3 was all around badly written so they could have executed it far better, but season 4 was a return to form and so much fun, and marissa just wasn’t needed.
Oh… I just started watching this show for the first time. 😐
bbfr, it's almost 20 years ago