Actress Mischa Barton revealed that she had an off-screen romance with her
older love interest on �The O.C.� when she was �17 �-18 years old� and he was
25.

During the 38-year-old actress� appearance on the �Call Her Daddy� podcast,
Barton opened up for the first time that her known difficult times on the
show were because she became romantically involved with her co-star Ben
McKenzie.

�It wasn�t just onscreen,� Mischa told the host. �It was kind of complicated
for me because I went into that like a virgin, like a kid. Like really
feeling like I needed to grow up quickly to feel like I could portray acting
with people older than me.�

�It was a bit like, �Oh wow, they know what they�re doing. There�s gonna be
relationships on this show, and you�re gonna need to play that part,� she
added. �And I didn�t feel really ready for that because I was always a really
late bloomer in school, and I hadn�t really dated. I just had no idea what I
was doing, so I felt like I needed to catch up a lot of the time.�

Mischa Barton admits she and �The O.C.� co-star Ben McKenzie secretly
dated https://t.co/bvLbaRKhzW pic.twitter.com/MU4tFkwkLV

� Page Six (@PageSix) February 22, 2024

�That was my first�I had no idea what I was doing,� Barton continued. �And I
think that kind of set things off on the wrong foot, too � because we threw
ourselves all into it very fast, and then, you know, when you break up, and
things don�t work and they see you dating other people, notoriously there was
a lot of inter-dating on that show.�

Later, she admitted she lost her virginity on the show, though she didn�t say
to whom.

Barton said from the very start of her �first relationship,� she �felt
overwhelmed and not ready� for any of it.

�[Show staff] were like, you know, �Mischa�s disappeared with Ben and she�s
only 17 and a half, 18, and the producers went to my parents,� the �Notting
Hill� star said. �It was kind of a whole ordeal. And so that�s in the very
beginning of the show before we�re even like halfway through a season. So,
there was a lot going on there, that show. Just so much happened in three
seasons��

In an interview in October with The Times, Barton talked about the trauma of
experiencing such a huge level of fame at an early age, E! News noted.

�You can go to therapy every day for the rest of your life, but there�s just
a certain amount of trauma [from] all that I went through, particularly in my
early 20s, that just doesn�t go away overnight,� the actress shared.

�I don�t think I was fully prepared for that level of fame,� she confessed.
�Because it has never been something that I have sought out. I really would
much rather be anonymous.�

�The O.C� ran from 2003 to 2007 on Fox with Barton and McKenzie playing
star-crossed lovers Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood.

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Let's go Brandon!