The drama that unfolded on “The O.C.” may have been a lot more real than fans ever knew.
Nearly 20 years after its premiere in 2003, cast members of “The O.C.” are speaking out about each other’s on-set antics and nightmare attitudes.
Mischa Barton has been in and out of headlines since breaking onto the scene as Marissa Cooper in “The O.C.”
More recently, she did a ‘tell-all’ interview with E! News where she dished on why she felt she was killed off of the show at the end of season 3, and why her time on the hit show was much worse than her co-stars.
While speaking to E! in May, Barton explained that she was bullied by some of the men on set which felt “really s****y.” Barton added that she felt “very unprotected” during her time on the show.
“I was working so hard, the longest hours probably out of all the characters. It wasn’t an easy character for me to play,” Barton explained.
She felt things started to fall apart for her and her character halfway through season two.
She explained how production on episodes started doubling up and getting much harder.
She noted, “A lot of that was too much for me. I didn’t know where the character was going. I look back on it pretty fondly, but there’s stuff I think people did wrong and the way they handled it. So, I just didn’t feel I could keep going.”
Now, a source close to production is speaking out about Barton’s behavior on-set, painting a much different picture.
The source spoke exclusively to PageSix alleging she was a “nightmare” to work with on set. Of Barton’s bullying claims, the source explained that the crew of the show was frustrated with Barton for constantly “showing up late” for filming.
“It wasn’t that she was bullied. People didn’t appreciate waiting for hours for her to show up,” the source told PageSix.
In addition to showing up late, the source revealed she had a momager who was “annoying.”
It was messy to say the least.
Barton caught wind of these claims and responded to PageSix in a statement saying, “There was a lot going on. Whether I was late or not doesn’t excuse certain behavior from individuals in powerful positions. Everyone experiences things differently and where I acknowledge some of my past behavior may not have been helpful in certain instances, I will tell my truth when I feel ready.”
Barton’s co-stars, Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke, also got wind of her bullying claims and felt the need to weigh in.
During a recent episode of their podcast, “Welcome to the OC, Bitches!,” Bilson said, “You know Melinda and I were talking immediately after it (the interview) came out. And we were just like, ‘Wait, what?'”
Clarke said she felt sad for Barton given the experience she claims to have had, but was indeed perplexed by what she said.
“We knew there was a lot of pressure on her but if it was really that bad of an experience, that’s not right for any young person. But, some of the comments were very, um, perplexing to me, so I don’t know what the truth is about that. I do know that, yes, this was an enormous amount of pressure for her. And for everybody,” Clarke said.
See for yourself!
