Mischa Barton Discusses Her Exit from The O.C.
Mischa Barton talked to E News about her exit from The O.C. Mischa played one of the main characters, Marissa Cooper, a privileged yet troubled teen living a tumultuous life in Newport Beach.
At the end of the third season, Marissa died in a car crash. According to series creator Josh Schwartz, "It was born out of a number of issues: Creative, cast chemistry, ratings...Mischa didn't want off the show any more than any of the other kids wanted off the show. It was a complicated chemistry with the cast...but she certainly wasn't actively seeking to leave the show."
So what does Mischa herself have to say about it? (emphasis in quotes is my own)
She dealt with behind-the-scenes bullying:
- "I've always felt ashamed in a way to really talk about what went on behind the scenes because I've always been a very private person and very aware of people's feelings...Now that we're living in this era where we do speak out about our experiences and women do come clean about what was really going on behind the scenes and how they were treated, it's a slightly different thing."
- "There were people on that set that were very mean to me. It wasn't, like, the most ideal environment for a young, sensitive girl who's also been thrust into stardom to have to put up with."
- "I was really sad I was going because that was like my family, but there had also been some things that weren't so cool and I would be lying to say I wasn't a little bit relieved that I was going to extricate myself from that situation."
Conversations about getting rid of the character started early:
- "It started pretty early on because it had a lot to do with them adding Rachel [Bilson] in last minute as, after the first season, a series regular and evening out everybody's pay-and sort of general bullying from some of the men on set that kind of felt really shitty. But, you know, I also loved the show and had to build up my own walls and ways of getting around dealing with that and the fame that was thrust specifically at me. Just dealing with like the amount of invasion I was having in my personal life, I just felt very unprotected, I guess is the best way to put it."
She was given the option of having her character move away or be killed off:
- "This has been said before, but they kind of gave me an option. The producers were like, "Well, do you want your job and to sail off into the sunset and potentially you can come back in the future in some bizarre TV scenario or we can kill your character off and you can go on with your career that you want and what you want to do?""
- "But I also do really love that she had this epic death and that it ended like that because it's memorable and it's not just another flash in the pan. People still come up to me to this day and they're like, "I remember where I was when your character died!" And they're still emotional about it, like it was really me. I think that that's cool that people actually took something away from it. There were lessons to be learned from Marissa, for better or for worse."
- "They made me feel like the show is going to go on with or without you and it is what it is. So I was just, like, OK, cool, then let's go out with a bang."
source
Interestingly, she describes Marissa multiple times as a ditzy LA girl, which isn't exactly the vibe I ever got from the character.
At the end of the third season, Marissa died in a car crash. According to series creator Josh Schwartz, "It was born out of a number of issues: Creative, cast chemistry, ratings...Mischa didn't want off the show any more than any of the other kids wanted off the show. It was a complicated chemistry with the cast...but she certainly wasn't actively seeking to leave the show."
So what does Mischa herself have to say about it? (emphasis in quotes is my own)
She dealt with behind-the-scenes bullying:
- "I've always felt ashamed in a way to really talk about what went on behind the scenes because I've always been a very private person and very aware of people's feelings...Now that we're living in this era where we do speak out about our experiences and women do come clean about what was really going on behind the scenes and how they were treated, it's a slightly different thing."
- "There were people on that set that were very mean to me. It wasn't, like, the most ideal environment for a young, sensitive girl who's also been thrust into stardom to have to put up with."
- "I was really sad I was going because that was like my family, but there had also been some things that weren't so cool and I would be lying to say I wasn't a little bit relieved that I was going to extricate myself from that situation."
Conversations about getting rid of the character started early:
- "It started pretty early on because it had a lot to do with them adding Rachel [Bilson] in last minute as, after the first season, a series regular and evening out everybody's pay-and sort of general bullying from some of the men on set that kind of felt really shitty. But, you know, I also loved the show and had to build up my own walls and ways of getting around dealing with that and the fame that was thrust specifically at me. Just dealing with like the amount of invasion I was having in my personal life, I just felt very unprotected, I guess is the best way to put it."
She was given the option of having her character move away or be killed off:
- "This has been said before, but they kind of gave me an option. The producers were like, "Well, do you want your job and to sail off into the sunset and potentially you can come back in the future in some bizarre TV scenario or we can kill your character off and you can go on with your career that you want and what you want to do?""
- "But I also do really love that she had this epic death and that it ended like that because it's memorable and it's not just another flash in the pan. People still come up to me to this day and they're like, "I remember where I was when your character died!" And they're still emotional about it, like it was really me. I think that that's cool that people actually took something away from it. There were lessons to be learned from Marissa, for better or for worse."
- "They made me feel like the show is going to go on with or without you and it is what it is. So I was just, like, OK, cool, then let's go out with a bang."
source
Interestingly, she describes Marissa multiple times as a ditzy LA girl, which isn't exactly the vibe I ever got from the character.