Fifteen years after her character was killed off on “The O.C.,” Mischa Barton is finally opening up about the reasoning behind the decision.
During a new interview, the 35-year-old actress said that she previously felt “ashamed” to discuss what happened behind-the-scenes of the popular teen drama series.
“I’ve always been a very private person and very aware of people’s feelings,” she told E! News. “Now that we’re living in this era where we do speak out about our experiences and women do come clean about what was really going on behind the scenes and how they were treated, it’s a slightly different thing.”
Barton revealed that talks about her leaving the series began shortly after the first season when they decided to add Rachel Bilson to the main cast and after encountering “bullying from some of the men on set that kind of felt really s—ty.”
It was only downhill from there, according to the British-American beauty.
Barton explained that things got to be “too much” for her halfway through season two when they started “doubling up on episodes.”
“I look back on it pretty fondly, but there’s stuff I think people did wrong and the way they handled it,” she said. “So, I just didn’t feel I could keep going.”
That’s when she said producers offered her the option of her character being killed off or leaving room for a potential comeback.
At that time, the two-time Teen Choice Awards winner was reportedly receiving offers to headline “big films” but had to turn them down, despite it being her dream, which is why she ultimately chose the first option.
“It just felt like it was the best thing for me and my health and just in terms of not really feeling protected by my cast and crew at that point,” she explained.
Created by Josh Schwartz, “The O.C.” ran for four seasons on the Fox network from 2003 to 2007. Alongside Barton and Bilson, the show also starred Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Ben McKenzie, Adam Brody, Chris Carmack, and Tate Donovan, among others.
Barton returned to television, starring in the short-lived Ashton Kutcher-produced CW series “The Beautiful Life” in 2009.
In 2019, she appeared on the first season of “The Hills: New Beginnings,” a spin-off of the hit MTV semi-reality series “The Hills.”
Last week, her former co-star Brody Jenner told Daily News reporter Jami Ganz that Barton’s appearance was “sort of awkward” and that she was not missed in season two.
