https://www.eonline.com/news/1270301/mischa-barton-is-finally-ready-to-tell-the-real-story-behind-her-exit-from-the-o-c

Marissa's death (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKYuUzkPHLA) on the May 18, 2006 "The Graduates" episode as Imogen Heap's haunting cover of "Hallelujah" played was one of the most memorable moments from The O.C., especially since Barton is rumored to have wanted off of the show. In an interview with E! News, Barton confirms she wanted out. "It's a bit complicated," she said. "It started pretty early on because it had a lot to do with them adding Rachel (Bilson) in last minute as, after the first season, a series regular and evening out everybody's pay—and sort of general bullying from some of the men on set that kind of felt really sh*tty. But, you know, I also loved the show and had to build up my own walls and ways of getting around dealing with that and the fame that was thrust specifically at me. Just dealing with like the amount of invasion I was having in my personal life, I just felt very unprotected, I guess is the best way to put it. I was working so hard, the longest hours probably out of all the characters. It wasn't an easy character for me to play because it wasn't me, which is why I think people liked it or thought Marissa was funny and latched on to her. They felt like this is entertaining because she's all over the place and who is this girl? It's like because this New York girl was trying to play this ditzy L.A. rich kid, you know?" Barton added: "This has been said before, but they kind of gave me an option. The producers were like, 'Well, do you want your job and to sail off into the sunset and potentially you can come back in the future in some bizarre TV scenario or we can kill your character off and you can go on with your career that you want and what you want to do?' I was getting offers from big films at the time and having to turn them down. I had always been supporting in The Sixth Sense and any of those things. My dream was to be offered those lead roles, so that's what happened. It just felt like it was the best thing for me and my health and just in terms of not really feeling protected by my cast and crew at that point."

To summarize (for the clickbait crowd):


She said that it pretty much all started back when Rachel became a series regular and they started evening out everyone's pay by then. She mentioned that she dealt with bullying from men on the set. Mentioned that between that and constantly being in the press, she didn't feel protected at all on set. Despite all of this, she said that she loved the show and had to deal with all of the attention in the way that she could. Also hinted at becoming more guarded because of this. Also brought up how she worked the longest hours out of all the characters during her time on the show. Didn't think she was an easy character for her to play since she thought Marissa was so far off from who she actually is.

Mentioned that they started writing more serious stuff for her because they didn't think she was good at the comedy side of things on the show. Found it kind of weird since she came from a theater background and mentioned that her weakness was being "ditzy". Said that it wasn't for her, but did enjoy the "ridiculousness" of it all.

She mentioned that halfway season two was when she finally decided she was done with the show (https://pagesix.com/2021/05/19/mischa-barton-says-bullying-on-the-o-c-set-led-to-her-exit/). Episode count got bigger, hours got longer, etc. Didn't know where the character was gonna go and all of that stuff. Said that even though she looks back on it fondly, but thinks there's stuff people did wrong and didn't handle well.

Mentioned that the producers gave her two options when she made the decision to leave the show: leave the show, but live and have the option to come back in a "bizarre TV scenario" or kill her character off so she can be free to pursue the roles she wants. She chose the latter. Brought up getting huge offers for roles at the time, but turned them down. She mentioned always playing supporting since Sixth Sense and the lead roles were the ones she's always wanted (https://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2021/05/blind-item-7_19.html). All in all, it was the best thing she could do for her health and mentioned yet again that neither the cast nor crew did much to protect her at that point.

Said that she loves acting, but sees things for what they are in the business. Was raised by her family to have a pretty clear version of how **** really is over in that regard. Feels sad because there wasn't a better way it could have all been handled, but loved that Marissa got an "epic death". People still talk about it to her whenever they come up to her on the street and is glad that people took something away from it all.

Wasn't super aware of how big of a deal the character was. Said that during her time on the show, they made her feel as if the show could go on with or without her. Wanted to go out with a bang, so she asked the makeup artists to go all out with the blood when they were shooting the death scene.

On Marissa's death and how she felt about it when she got the script: "No. It's tragic, it's poetic. I knew they would find a great song to put it to because music was such a huge part of the show and I know her, as a character, she had really battled to keep it together and was unable to do so. She was just trying to find herself and she was always put into these very complicated situations from a young age to be a perfect society girl. I felt like it was actually a great ending when I read it."

On how she felt after having filmed her final scene: " It was a bit of both. I was really sad I was going because that was like my family, but there had also been some things that weren't so cool and I would be lying to say I wasn't a little bit relieved that I was going to extricate myself from that situation. For whatever reasons, years later, certain people, when they see me from the show they are so excited to see me and they only remember the good times. So it's a bit of a mixed bag how we all feel about it. I was young, but I was excited to try and get to do new stuff, too, and didn't know if I could keep handling the stress of that environment that I was put in."

The interviewer brought up that one time Josh said something at a TV festival back in 2016 about how he didn't expect that people would be so angry about her death. She said that it was an "internal struggle", mentioned that there were people on set that would be very mean to her, and wasn't the most ideal environment for a "young, sensitive girl" that had been thrust into stardom to deal with.

She revealed that she never watched season four because she was working and that it wasn't something she'd watch on a weekly basis anyway. Heard that it took a different direction, but didn't know much about it. She also revealed that the showrunners/producers didn't ask her to come back for the finale, not even that one Chrismukkah ep where Marissa comes back as a ghost.