Mischa Barton says The Hills was ‘kind of a s***show’ as she reflects on Marissa Cooper typecasting

Actor says she struggled to disassociate herself from her spoiled rich girl character from ‘The OC’

Mischa Barton has spoken about how typecasting affected her after she quit her role as Marissa Cooper on The OC in 2006.

The actor, now 35, starred as the troubled rich girl in the popular show about young people in the wealthy neighbourhood of Newport Beach, Orange County, but departed after the season three finale.

She claimed in May that her exit was due to bullying behind the scenes, calling the situation “complicated”.

Speaking to The Guardian, Barton has now revealed that as recently as 2019, she found herself struggling to shake off the comparisons drawn between her and her fictional character.

For her appearance on The Hills: New Beginnings, Barton was supposed to be herself, she explained, but producers were expecting her to act like Marissa.

“They were even calling me by my character name,” she said. “Seriously? Like, this far down the line they can’t get my name right?”

The first series was “kind of like a s***show”, she added. She did not return to the show after its first season.

Like her most famous character, Barton also experienced her share of controversy, including reports of a mental breakdown and estrangement from her parents. In February 2008, she was sentenced to 36 months probation for driving under the influence of alcohol and possessing marijuana.

Barton, who is apparently considering whether to make a docuseries about her life, said she felt that “a lot of [celebrities] deserve apologies for the things that were done to them” around the early Noughties.

“The [Framing Britney Spears] doc really got to me,” she said. “Watching that was very strange because I was in all the same places. Certainly, you couldn’t get away with it today to the same extent, not the same kind of danger.”

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, Samaritans offers support. You can speak to someone in confidence over the phone on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website here.

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