Mischa Barton, former star of “The OC”, revealed that she had a secret romance behind the scenes from the program with her co-star, Ben McKenzie.
The two played married couple Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood in the hit series, which ran from 2003 to 2007. The teen drama mainly tells the story of Ryan, a troubled young man, who is taken in by the wealthy Cohen family in Newport Beach, California.
The confession was made in an interview with the podcast “Call Her Daddy” and the actress, who at the time of recording was 17 years old, confesses that they “had a romance not just in fiction”. In turn, Ben was already 25 years old.
“I entered that [programa] virgin, a child. Acting with people older than me was like, 'Wow, they know what they're doing. There are going to be relationships on this show and you will need to play that role.' And I didn’t really feel ready for that”, recalls Mischa.
The actress also revealed in the chat that her off-screen relationship with Ben was “her first” and that she “had no idea what she was doing”.
“I think it also started off on the wrong foot, because it was like people connected to these shows and, I don't know, these things happened, but we jumped into it really quickly,” he explained.
Mischa also hinted that other romances happened behind the scenes of the series. “So when you break up and things don't work out, and they see you dating other people… Famously, there was a lot of dating on that show and different people getting together,” she says.
As he was a minor at the time, Mischa also reveals that there was intervention from his parents and the production team in relation to the relationship, as Ben was 25 years old.
“I remember they said, 'Mischa went missing with Ben and she's only 17 and a half.' The producers looked for my parents, a complete intervention took place. And this was very early in the show, before we were even halfway through the first season. There was a lot going on there. So much happened in three seasons”, concluded the actress.
Mischa left the series in the third season and the show was canceled the following season.
Source: CNN Brasil
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