The O.C.! Adam Brody, Rachel Bilson, Ben McKenzie and more young actors got their starts on the teen drama — but there were even more faces that would soon become familiar in the background.
The O.C.Ryan Atwood (McKenzie) was following Ryan, who experiences culture shock after moving in to Orange County with Seth Cohen (Brody), and his family. Though she didn’t stick around for all four seasons, Olivia WildeOne of many memorable guest stars was Alex Kelly, who played the role of Alex Kelly’s older love interest.
“I used to dismiss The O.C. I’d be like, ‘I did a teen soap—what an embarrassment,’” the House alum told The New York TimesMay 2019. “And now I think, ‘Ah, that was really formative and I’m lucky I got to do that.’”
That same month, Wilde shed more light on her experience filming the Fox series in the early 2000s during an interview on the “Keep It” podcast, noting that she didn’t “really understand the phenomenon” that The O.C. “would be or would become.”
The Lazarus Effect star added, “I was just like, 19, just working, shooting this movie Alpha DogOn weekends, I was switching between these sets, and then it was revealed. My role was revealed to the world. It was the sensational story of queer love between teenage girls on an American soap. At the time I was like, ‘Well, this should be normal. Why is it such a big deal?’ But people either got riled up in a good way or got riled up in a bad way. And I was like, ‘Well, this is an important conversation.’”
Alex and Marissa Cooper fell in love.Mischa Barton), and Wilde confessed that it took a while for the “significance” of her character to set in. “People would come up to me on the street — it still happens all the time — and say, ‘Your role on the show helped me come out to my family, helped me feel comfortable with my friends and helped me understand … [and] kind of own my sexuality in a comfortable way,’” she said on the podcast. “I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s an honor.’”
The O.C. still holds a special place in the hearts of fans who grew up watching the series — and even its cast still looks back fondly on their memories from the show. Bilson, who has been recapping each episode on her “Welcome to the OC, Bitches” podcast, previously gushed over sharing scenes with now-ex Brody as onscreen couple Summer and Seth.
“You taught me how to act well,” the Hart of DixieBrody was a former alumna who dated Brody from 2003-2006. She told Brody’s former costar in Oct 2021. “You made it so, like, comfortable to just go for it and not be afraid. I felt like I could do anything and everything you did to help me. I just wanna say thank you.”
Scroll down to see more The O.C.’The following are the most memorable guest stars right now:
