Where The OC cast are now as Mischa Barton joins Neighbours – from racy sex confessions to rant over ‘miserable’ stars
WAKING up hungover on a Sunday to watch The OC on T4 was the go-to routine for most teens in the Noughties.
The Californian teen drama started in 2003, and ran for four years, making stars of the likes of Mischa Barton and Olivia Wilde.
Mischa is going to be seen back on our screens very soon, as she stars in the Neighbours reboot, and many of her co-stars have been busy too.
From a fling with Harry Styles to a shock affair, we reveal what The OC cast have all been up to…
Benjamin McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie was the ultimate teenage heartthrob as Ryan Atwood.
Following The OC, he played Officer Ben Sherman in crime drama Southland up until 2013, and now he’s a regular in Batman prequel Gotham, playing another lead cop – Jim Gordon.
In 2017, he married his Gotham co-star Morena Baccarin, and they have two children together, Frances, seven, and two-year-old Arthur.
However, the road to their relationship was bumpy, as Morena’s first husband Austin Chick claimed they had an affair.
In divorce papers, Austin said two months after he filed for divorce, he came home to get his stuff and found Ben “had just taken a shower and he was playing with” the son Morena shares with Austin.
Due to her being three and a half months pregnant at the time, he also said: “This places the moment of conception right in the first week of June, 2015, the time she was telling me she wanted to work on our marriage and well before we stopped sharing a bed.”
Adam Brody
Adam Brody played the ultimate geek chic boy Seth Cohen.
In The OC’s finale, fans rejoiced as he finally married his dream girl Summer Roberts, but in real life he coupled up with Leighton Meester, who played Blair Waldorf in fellow teen drama Gossip Girl.
They have two children, Arlo, seven, and a three-year-old son, together.
After The OC ended, Adam immediately distanced himself from Hollywood to try his hand at comic book writing, creating DC Comic series Red Menace with Rachel Bilson’s writer-director father Danny Bilson.
Unfortunately, Red Menace didn’t find quite the following Adam had hoped for and, after releasing six issues, Adam returned to acting, getting relatively small parts in films like Scream 4 and Jennifer’s Body.
His biggest hit has come in the form of Shazam, and he was most recently seen in the sequel.
Mischa Barton
The OC was never the same after troubled Marissa Cooper – played by Mischa Barton – was killed in a car accident at the end of series three.
Ryan’s love interest had struggles with drugs and alcohol in the show, and Mischa was also also facing a battle in real life.
In 2007, she was arrested for driving under the influence but despite being sent to rehab not long afterwards, Mischa was admitted to a psychiatric ward two years later.
Sadly, Mischa was hospitalised again at the start of 2017, after a neighbour called 911.
Then, only a couple of months later, she revealed she was a victim of revenge porn, and accused her ex Jon Zacharias of secretly filming her in intimate moments, including having sex and being naked.
She said: “I came forward to fight this not only for myself, but for all the women out there.”
She eventually won the case.
Since The OC, Mischa has had her own fashion line, Mischa’s Place – which has since closed – and she also appeared on Dancing With The Stars in 2016.
And now she’ll be returning to our screens in Neighbours.
Rachel Bilson
She was only supposed to appear in a couple of episodes, but Rachel’s character Summer soon became one of the show’s main characters.
And Rachel landed some pretty decent jobs after the show finished, including roles in How I Met Your Mother, Nashville and movie, Jumper.
Rachel ended up with her Jumper co-star Hayden Christensen for 10 years on and off until September 2017.
They have an eight-year-old daughter, Briar Rose, together.
Rachel now presents a podcast called Welcome To The OC! B***hes, and confessed she’d be open to a reboot of the show.
She also recently revealed she lost a job due to confessing she wanted to be “f**king manhandled” in the bedroom on podcast, Women On Top.
On the same podcast, she also shared she hadn’t orgasmed from sex until she was 38.
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde is probably the most successful Hollywood star from The OC.
She played bad girl Alex Kelly on the show, who dated Marissa and Seth.
As well as playing Thirteen in House, she’s also had roles in Tron: Legacy, 1984, and most recently starred in and directed Don’t Worry Darling.
But it’s her personal life that has become front and centre.
Olivia began dating actor and comedian Jason Sudeikis in November 2011, and got engaged in January 2013 – but in November 2020 they split.
And, while she was onstage, presenting Don’t Worry Darling at CinemaCon 2022, Jason publicly served her with court documents demanding custody of their two children, Otis, nine, and seven-year-old Daisy.
In January 2021, Olivia began dating singer Harry Styles after meeting during the filming of Don’t Worry Darling, but their relationship ended in November 2022.
Cam Gigandet
Cam Gigandet played The OC’s ultimate bad boy Kevin Volchok, and quickly moved onto a role in Twilight after the show ended, playing vampire James.
He has also appeared in hit movies like Burlesque and Easy A.
In 2014, Cam revealed he no longer talks to the cast, and also gave some behind-the-scenes insight.
“Those kids were f***ing miserable,” he revealed.
“They would not remember their lines on purpose. They were young. That said, I don’t talk to anyone I’ve ever worked with.”
Kelly Rowan
Seth’s mum Kirsten was played by Kelly Rowan.
Following The OC, Kelly had a leading role on the crime series Perception from 2012 to 2015.
The Canadian native has also appeared in a couple of other US TV shows since, including Castle and Murdoch Mysteries.
Kelly and her ex-fiancé David Thomson share a 15-year-old daughter.
Peter Gallagher
Peter Gallagher, who played lawyer Sandy Cohen – Seth’s father – hasn’t stopped since The OC ended.
He has had roles in How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, Californication, The Good Wife and Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. David Hamilton.
Peter also released an album when the show ended and has appeared on Broadway.