The OC star Mischa Barton reveals she still struggles with the 'trauma' of dealing with fame at a young age and admits she would like to settle down
Mischa Barton has revealed she still struggles with the 'trauma' of dealing with fame at a young age after her days on hit show The OC - and admitted she would still like to settle down.
Mischa starred as rich and glamorous teenager Marissa Cooper on The OC for three years from 2003, with Entertainment Weekly branding her as the 'It Girl' of that year.
The role shot a then 17-year-old Mischa to fame and sparked a media frenzy she compared to dystopian novel The Hunger Games - in which young boys and girls are forced to fight for survival in a public arena - leaving her with a post-traumatic stress disorder.
The actress, now 37, is originally from Hammersmith in London but now divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.
Speaking in a new interview with The Times, the star said: 'You can go to therapy every day for the rest of your life, but there's just a certain amount of trauma from all that I went through, particularly in my early twenties, that just doesn't go away overnight.'
Difficult time: Mischa Barton has revealed she still struggles with the 'trauma' of dealing with fame at a young age (pictured in September)
Back then: Mischa starred as rich and glamorous teenager Marissa Cooper on The OC for three years from 2003
She left the show in 2006 amid claims of bullying and exhaustion from 18-hour filming days for each episode.
Elsewhere in the interview, Mischa discussed her love life, admitting that despite being 'happily single' for now, she is ultimately a 'traditional person' who would like to settle down.
She continued: 'I’m happy being single at the moment, because it comes up, the whole thing of "Do you wanna settle down and have kids?"
'I am a weirdly traditional, conventional person when it comes to stuff like that, more so than people think. But it really depends on the person you’re with.'
Mischa's time after her OC days was also far from easy.
Just like her alter ego, she struggled during her young adult years, getting arrested in 2007 and receiving a DUI for marijuana possession and driving without a licence.
The actress was sent to court-ordered rehab as part of her sentence, however two years later, she was admitted to a mental health ward.
Mischa was sent to the venue under a psychiatric hold, after she started exhibiting worrisome behaviour that she later attributed to exhaustion.
Media frenzy: Barton says she has been left with PTSD after her sudden rise to fame aged 17
TV star: Many fans still remember Mischa from her breakout role on The O.C. (Pictured in 2003)
The star was hospitalised again for a mental health evaluation in 2017, the same year two ex boyfriends teamed up to try and sell an intimate tape and photos of her that were taken without her consent.
Mischa successfully sued to have distribution of the video and images blocked and following the court case spoke out saying she 'came forward to fight this not only for myself but for all women out there'.
Going through a difficult private life, Mischa's career took somewhat of a backseat, starring in a number of limited-release movies and short-lived series, including The Beautiful Life: TBL, The Hills: New Beginnings, Virgin Territory and American Beach House.
In 2019 she came 11th on season 22 of Dancing With the Stars.
Mischa starred in the 2023 Neighbours reboot fir a 10-week guest stint on the iconic soap.
She is now filming her very own romantic comedy set in Australia.
Unfortunately, the reboot of Neighbours has turned out to be a huge flop for Channel 10.
Debuting just three weeks ago, Neighbours bumped The Bold and the Beautiful out of its usual 4.30pm timeslot to 4pm, angering fans of the American soap.
Bold has now returned to its original timeslot and Neighbours will now run Monday to Thursdays at 4pm, with repeats of Judge Judy filling the slot on Fridays.
Each episode of Neighbours will then be repeated on 10Peach at 6.30pm.
New role: Barton has been starring in the Neighbours reboot
