Mischa Barton, 33, who played resident California cool girl, Marissa Cooper, on Fox’s hit drama, The O.C., will make her return to Orange County but as herself, not the character she’s most famous for playing.
Confused as to why Barton’s joining the reboot of The Hills? Wondering what she hopes to accomplish joining the cast? Keep reading to get the answers to those questions and more.
Why is Mischa Barton on ‘The Hills: New Beginnings’?
During a guest spot on the podcast, That’s So Retrograde, The Hills alum, 34-year-old Whitney Port, talked to hosts, Elizabeth Kott, and Stephanie Simbari, about why Barton joined her and other original cast members of The Hills such as Heidi and Spencer Pratt, Audrina Patridge, Jason, Wahler, and Brody Jenner on the reboot.
“They think she is like the original Lauren [Conrad] because she was the cool girl on The O.C.,” Port said. “She was famous around the same time [and] all of her scandals were around the same time of The Hills scandals so they [the series’ producers] think she has a relatable story to tell — a ‘new beginning,’” she explained.
Port did admit that’s she, like fans of The Hills, is a little confused by her addition to the cast.
“I don’t know, I can’t really explain it fully because it’s a little bit confusing to me but that’s what they tell me,” she added.
What does Mischa Barton hope to get out of ‘The Hills: New Beginnings’?
While living in upstate New York, MTV contacted Barton about participating in The Hills: New Beginnings. She talked with them for three months, Barton told The New York Times in a May 2019 interview.
“Obviously, I’m a working actor, so I do take jobs in general,” she told the publication, “but when it comes to things I know are going to be big endeavors, it’s always kind of a process with me.”
She revealed when she first got the offer, she believed it to be a joke.
To execs working on the show, the offer wasn’t a joke. Quite the contrary, they thought Barton would make the perfect addition to the cast.
Barton “was experiencing that sort of life of Hollywood and entering that world at the same age as ‘The Hills’ cast and going through a lot of the same experiences,” Nina L. Diaz, president of entertainment at MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo told The New York Times.
Eventually, Barton signed on for the role, moving back to California.
She wants three things to come out of her being on The Hills: New Beginnings.
“[I hoped] to situate myself in a different part of my career, make a new friend group and move out of the stale typecasting I had gotten myself into,” the actress said of joining the cast.
She added that through the reboot, people will see Barton, not the characters she plays as an actress.
“People seem to have always associated me with one thing, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for them to get to see the real me,” she told the publication.
Barton described the reboot as being very real in stark contrast to The Hills. “It’s not in any way really scripted at all,” she said.Watch Barton on The Hills: New Beginnings Monday nights starting June 24, 2019, on MTV at 10 p.m. EST.
