Mischa Barton’s Total Transformation Over The Years: From ‘The O.C.’ to ‘Neighbours’

1995

As a child, Mischa began her acting career in several off-Broadway productions. In 1995, when she was just 9 years old, the young actress appeared in the daytime drama All My Children. She was then in 10 episodes of the cartoon series KaBlam! from 1996 to 1997.

1999

Mischa soon started booking movie roles, including a small part in the psychological thriller The Sixth Sense. She had a part in the romantic comedy Notting Hill the same year.

2001

She later got into independent films, acting in Lost and Delirious and Tart the same year.

2003

When Mischa was just 17, she shared in the hit show The O.C. as leading lady Marissa Cooper. The actress later reflected on the challenges that came with early fame.

“You can go to therapy every day for the rest of your life,” she told The Times in an October 2023 interview, “but there’s just a certain amount of trauma [from] all that I went through, particularly in my early 20s, that just doesn’t go away overnight.”

2006

While The O.C. lasted four seasons, Mischa’s character, Marissa Cooper, had a dramatic death during the Season 3 finale.

As for why producers decided to kill off one of their most popular characters, executive producer Stephanie Savage later told Vanity Fair that it was due to “tremendous pressure to do something with that level of drama.”

“Killing a series regular came down from the top,” she added. “If we wanted a season four, we’d have to do something like that.”

In 2021, Mischa opened up to E! News about her own version of why her character didn’t return for the final season, saying that there was “sort of general bullying from some of the men on set” and that she felt “unprotected.”

2007

In 2007, Mischa made headlines when she was pulled over in Los Angeles after she failed to signal while making a turn and was straddling two traffic lanes. Mischa didn’t have a license and deputies reported that they found marijuana and a controlled substance in the SUV.

Mischa told Nylon (via E!), “That was a low point for me. I never, ever would have thought I would be arrested.”

In 2008, Mischa was sentenced to three years probation and ordered into an alcohol education program.

Meanwhile, Mischa starred in some independent films, including Closing the Ring and Virgin Territory. In 2008 she appeared in Assassination of a High School President.

2009

Mischa reportedly struggled with her mental health for years and eventually sought help by checking intoa psychiatric ward. She later told People, “It was a full-on breakdown. I was under enormous pressure.”

2011

Mischa continued to act into the 2010s, appearing in several films including 2011’s You and I, 2011’s Don’t Fade Away, 2016’s Deserted, and 2018’s Painkillers.

2016

Mischa was a contestant on season 22 of Dancing With the Stars in 2016. She was voted off in the third week. “It was all a popularity contest. It was awful. I was so glad to get kicked off,” she later told The Ringer.

2019

Barton appeared as herself on the first season of MTV’s The Hills: New Beginnings. She didn’t return for season 2.

2023

Mischa guest starred in a reboot of the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours.

Soon after the season premiere aired, the 37-year-old actress opened up to Variety about her time on The O.C.

“All our attitudes have softened towards the whole thing,” she said. “Now it does have a certain sense of nostalgia to it and you’ve put some distance between the events of the time and now.”