The OC Strikes Back (IGN, 2004)

Ben McKenzie's interview in Elle (Volume 20, issues 1-2, 2004) was not a good look then and is definitely not a good look now. Really interesting to think how little controversy this generated compared to another cast member's Elle interview the same year. ELLE: Comprehensive list. Anything you might actually respond to favorably? BEN: A political point of view is really sexy, especially in L.A. Women here are exotic and beautiful, but it's like you're in a zoo. You look around thinking, Wow, look at all those pretty animals, and then when one opens its mouth and speaks, you're like, Holy [Censored], the monkey's talking to me!

ELLE: Would it bother you to find out that a woman you were dating had had significantly more sexual partners than you had? BEN: I think it has to affect you.

ELLE: So what's an acceptable number? BEN: In the teens is understandable. But get into the twenties and that's not good at all. Over 50 would be like, Who are you?

New Sepinwall interview in the Hollywood Reporter

New Sepinwall interview in the Hollywood Reporter:

Mischa's story was not what he thought would it be. Bleh. (at 28:00)

Josh and Stephanie didn't want to talk about Johnny at all and rescheduled multiple interviews in order to avoid it (this is not directly Mischa related but I lol’d).

In terms of things he was not expecting, Mischa's exit was the biggest in the book. Mischa was really reluctant to talk about her exit at all 😦

He describes his conversation with Mischa as "delicate" and the one he spoke to the least and required the most negotiating to get. "If she doesn't want to unpack her trauma with a journalist, I completely get that and that's her right" because of that she was very weary and simply did not answer many of his questions (at 30:00).

He had to get a lot more from others about her than she was willing to give him.

They ask him how much did the show's exit impact her career - and he says well the gossip at the time could not have helped but Mischa's mom was annoyed that Ben and Adam were getting movie offers when she wasn't.

Maybe showbusiness had decided they didn't want her before she was even fired he seems to suggest. Why would he speculate like this after also calling his conversation with her delicate?

The Making of a Golden Boy (The Guardian, 2005)

Moreover, the show is not quite as he envisioned in certain aspects. "The idea initially was that kids would casually have sex or not have sex, do drugs or not do drugs, and wouldn't draw conclusions about who they were as people," he says. You wouldn't have thought the Fox network would be his natural home. Fox does have some clever programmes with a liberal bent, notably The Simpsons (which has made typical, and telling, in-jokes about its Fox network base), but it is known mainly for pull-'em-in entertainment and trashy reality TV - "I married my midget spouse", as Schwartz describes it - and Fox News, of course, bastion of all kneejerking self-righteous conservatism. So, Josh, what's a nice liberal boy like you doing on a network like this?

"Yeah, yeah, Fox's reputation and Rupert's reputation is bipolar. People associate it with Fox News, which is very conservative, but the network tends to be more outrageous. Not necessarily tawdry, but willing to push the envelope," he insists. But not too far: he has had to "pull back on a lot of the partying that takes place on the show because the network has asked us to work with them on that".

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jan/22/broadcasting.fashion

Sebastian Stan auditioned for the role of Johnny and they chose Ryan Donowho over him, they didn't even see him in person and didn't realise how much smaller he would look next to Mischa. How could they hire him without even seeing him in person. What in the world.

Stills of our Golfing Girl from Season 1 Episode 16 - The Links.

Stills from Season 1 Episode 13 - The Best Chrismukkah Ever.

Season 1 promo shoots of Mischa Barton as Marissa Cooper.

Not only was Adam Brody considered for the lead role in Jumper, Mischa was too!

Welcome to the O.C Snippets

A random assortment of Mischa-related screencaptures from the new Welcome to The O.C book. Highlights include:

• The casting process for Mischa. • The driveway scene in the pilot. • What are Marissa's interests outside of Ryan? Discussions on a storyline relating to her being a Mean Girl, and/or helping the girl Luke cheats on her with and gets pregnant. • TJ was originally supposed to have her drunk driving off a cliff and involved a cliffhanger with her to allow for Fox to re-cast Mischa if they wanted. • Filming the Luke / Marissa sex scene. Mindy acknowledging the Ben/Mischa chemistry at the start and how by the end they were not on good terms. • References to Mischa reading on set (gasp!). • References to her being isolated on set (I wonder does anyone ask her about this). • Mischa's concerns around the material and expressing her frustrations. • Mischa refusing to speak about the Trey attempted rape scene and implying it was very uncomfortable for her (and directly contradicting Stephanie in the paragraph above). • The original S1 ending involving Eddie, domestic violence and Ryan getting revenge and getting into trouble. • Potential idea of Marissa being imprisoned at the start of S3. • Josh suggesting Marissa could have survived the crash and sailed away on Seth's boat.

Insightful article about the making of the show with JJ Philbin. She talks about Marissa's pivot in S3 with the Volchok storyline, as well as the changes to the Marissa/Berkeley episode (which we know from the original sides that are thankfully still out there)