After starring on The O.C. as wealthy teenage girl Marissa Cooper, Mischa Barton seemed to disappear from Hollywood. People say different things about why Barton left the show, as the creator called it a creative choice to have Cooper pass away, and Barton says she wanted to leave the series behind.
Since those days, Barton sued her mother and moved to England, and then came back to California, which is where she filmed the first season of The Hills: New Beginnings.
Why was Barton cast on the reboot of this popular reality show? Let's take a look.
Why Did Mischa Get Cast?
Barton said the reboot is "more real" than the OG series, which is fascinating to hear, and fans want to hear more about how she joined the cast.
Mischa Barton wasn't sold on joining The Hills reboot at first.
In an interview with Buzzfeed News, the actress explained, “I heard a bunch of different ideas about it and I was just like, it's not something that I will jump into blindly."
Why did Mischa Barton join the cast of The Hills: New Beginnings without having been on The Hills? Did she know these cast members?
As it turns out, she does know many of the cast members, and this seems to be why she was chosen for the reboot. Buzzfeed News mentioned that years ago, Barton and Brody Jenner were pals and had similar friends in Malibu, and she used to see Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port around town as well.
After observing the cast of the OG reality series at the 2018 MTV VMAs, Barton loved how well they seemed to get along and she began to think that agreeing to the reboot could be a great idea. Barton said, “This is not a bad group of friends, you know, they're quite tight-knit and they are not vicious towards each other, usually."
It's interesting to hear Barton make this observation because while The Hills is known for having a lot of drama, it's true that the show is about a group of friends, and they do care about each other.
Lily Neumeyer, the head of development at MTV, said that Barton was cast because of her friendship with Brody Jenner. According to Cinemablend.com, she said, "Brody and Mischa used to hang out in the same Hollywood circles because they were around the same age, so we thought she would be good because of that, and she also has an amazing story. She’s very open to tell her story. When we first talked to her, she was very honest about all the stuff that has been in the press about her, but that she never gets to talk about that, which is very difficult for a young woman. I think she was excited about being able to tell her own story."
Mischa And The Cast
Whitney Port shared with E! News that "it makes sense" that Barton was cast.
According to Bustle, Port explained, “So I filmed with Mischa a lot, she’s great! She was also really well-known at the time when The Hills and The City were in their prime, and so I think it makes sense in that she had this career where there were so many people weighing in on her life, and they didn’t really know her, and so I think she really wants to show people what she’s all about, and that she’s not just a headline like she once was.”
Mischa's Experience On 'The Hills: New Beginnings'
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Barton said that it was great to star on the reality reboot: "This has been an interesting journey and it’s been really fun to do. I’m really happy to be back in LA."
She also called starring on the show "a new chapter."
Barton has also been honest about starring on a show with people who have been close friends for years. According to Entertainment Tonight, Barton explained, “I sometimes get in over my head. I didn’t really consider the fact that they’re all such close friends. They’re family girls." She says that she wondered if she would have dramatic storylines since she's not a parent but she said the show's drama is because of the friend group's "history" with one another.
With season 2 of The Hills: New Beginnings coming, it'll be interesting to see what drama happens in these next episodes.
After an article came about Mischa Barton being "too boring" to come back for the reboot's second season, Barton shared the story on Instagram and said, “Lol. Where do people get their reporting from?" according to Cheat Sheet. It does appear that Barton will be back on the show, and fans will get to see what she's up to.