The OC’s Peter Gallagher says he had ‘discussions’ with young cast ‘about how one should behave’

Actors on show have previously been described as ‘very tough to work with’

Ellie Harrison
Thursday 22 April 2021 08:22 BST
Comments
Mischa Barton laments being on the OC

The OC star Peter Gallagher has revealed he had conversations with the show’s young cast about how they “should behave”.

The teen drama, which ran from 2003 to 2007, followed a group of young people and their families in the wealthy, upper-class neighbourhood of Newport Beach, Orange County, California.

Mischa Barton (Marissa) was just 17 when she joined the show, Chris Carmack (Luke) was 22, Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan) was 24, Adam Brody (Seth) was 23 and Rachel Bilson (Summer) was 21.

Speaking about how the cast became so well-known at such a young age, Gallagher – who was 47 in the first series – told Metro.co.uk: “To watch the organisation build them up… I worried, because first fame can be deadly. You stop asking questions and you think you have all the answers and it can destroy the fabric of the thing we had created. But to their credit… We had a few discussions about how one should behave, but they knew I loved them.”

In 2013, Tate Donovan, who played Marissa’s father Jimmy Cooper, told Vulture: “By [season three], the kids had developed a really bad attitude. They just didn’t want to be doing the show anymore. It was pretty tough; they were very tough to work with.”

The third season of the show introduced Johnny Harper (Ryan Donowho), a character whose storyline creator Josh Schwartz later admitted was an error, resulting in poor reviews.

Barton left the show at the end of season three, later explaining: “I just had a lot in my career that I wanted to do and accomplish. I felt like things were really heavily reliant upon me, and I was getting no time to do any of the other offers that were out there.”

The OC continued for one more season after Barton’s departure.

Gallagher said of the show’s worsening plotlines: “That whole first season was very special. Everybody was tight, there was a great sense of shared excitement. Then you know, I got saddled with I’m a public defender, and now I’m in the real estate business? Next week I’m a fishmonger? But you know, that’s their prerogative, and that’s what they chose to make.”

Bilson and her former co-star Melinda Clarke announced last month that they are launching a podcast, Welcome to the OC, Bitches!, which will feature the cast and creators as guests.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in