The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz initially rejected actor Adam Brody during auditions for the hit teen drama because Brody ad-libbed and did not read a single line of dialogue.
Speaking in the debut episode of E!'s documentary series Greatest Year in Pop Culture, which premiered October 5 on Fandango, Schwartz recalled his early frustration with Brody's attempt to play Seth Cohen. The episode explores the cultural impact of 2003 and is also available on the E! Entertainment YouTube channel, website, and app. E! and Fandango are both part of the Versant Media family.
Schwartz remembered watching Brody's first audition and immediately writing him off. "After he was done, I was like, 'Who is that guy?'" Schwartz said in the documentary. "He didn't even bother with one line of dialogue. Get him out of here."
Casting director Patrick Rush championed the former Gilmore Girls actor for the role, but admitted the process hit early obstacles. "We had some speed bumps along the way in the auditioning process," Rush said, adding, "It didn't go well."
Rush remembered exactly why Brody irritated the team. "He didn't even read for Seth," Rush recalled. "He ad-libbed and riffed. That's when the sweat starts. I'm kind of looking at him like, 'What are you doing? Please don't do that.'"
The performance shocked the production team. "Josh Schwartz, who was the most even-keeled guy in history, said, 'I hate that kid. I never want to see him again,'" Rush recalled. However, Rush pushed for another chance. "I just, for some reason, was like 'I don't know what that was but please let me bring him in again.' He came back and he was great."
By the second audition, Schwartz had already approved Mischa Barton as Marissa Cooper, Ben McKenzie as Ryan Atwood, and Rachel Bilson as Summer Roberts. Brody's second reading won over the creator. "The character all of a sudden made sense," Schwartz shared, "and any fear that the network had, like are girls going to find him equally as crushable I guess you could say as Ryan, instantly went out the window."
Former E! correspondent Kristin dos Santos praised the final casting in the documentary, stating, "Adam Brody cast as Seth Cohen, I think made the show."
Audition Regrets and Early Casting Decisions
The audition struggle is one of several surprising behind-the-scenes facts about the Fox teen drama. Schwartz previously revealed in an interview with Uproxx that early drafts of the script featured a different surname for the central family. "When I first wrote the script the Cohens were the Needlemans," Schwartz said.
The first actor cast on the series was film and stage star Peter Gallagher as family patriarch Sandy Cohen. "We wanted to send a very clear message that this was a show as much about the parents as it was about the kids, and we had this acclaimed film and stage actor in the lead role, heartthrob himself," Schwartz explained, describing Gallagher as "somebody who was a terrific actor who was going to ground the adult world with a lot of credibility."
The main role of brooding lead Ryan Atwood almost went to actor Garrett Hedlund, who initially won the part weeks before filming began. "He was gonna go in and test for the studio," Schwartz explained, "and then he got Troy, and was suddenly not available and off to have a movie career." Hedlund backed out to join the Brad Pitt film, leading producers to cast McKenzie instead. Actor Chad Michael Murray also turned down a role on the series to star on One Tree Hill.
The role of rich neighbor Marissa Cooper came down to Barton and Olivia Wilde. Schwartz explained at the 2016 ATX TV Festival that Barton got the part because "Marissa was obviously a character who Ryan needs to save, and Olivia Wilde needs no saving." He added that Wilde "is pretty tough." Producers kept Wilde in mind and later cast her as Alex, a season two love interest for Seth and later Marissa.
Rachel Bilson was originally cast as a recurring character with just three lines in the pilot episode. However, her portrayal of Summer Roberts quickly made the character the heart of the series. Bilson was upgraded to a series regular midway through season one and appeared in every episode of the show.
Network Doubts and Music Choices
Despite Seth Cohen becoming a fan favorite, Fox executives initially disliked the character during the pilot process and omitted him from early promotional posters. Schwartz recalled in his Uproxx interview that Brody had not learned his lines for the initial audition scene. "I was even like, 'What scene is he doing; is this from our show? What is he doing? I hate this kid; get him out of here,'" Schwartz said. "And then we couldn't find Seth and our casting director, Patrick Rush, was like, 'We should bring back Adam Brody. I'm telling you, there's something special about that kid.' He came back in and did a really great job."
The show's memorable line, "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!" was not part of the original pilot script. As the series expanded, it helped launch music careers for indie rock bands such as Death Cab for Cutie and Rooney. Major musical acts including U2 and the Beastie Boys eventually requested to debut new songs on the show, though indie group Arcade Fire famously refused to let their music be featured.
Schwartz admitted that early cast departures remained one of his biggest creative regrets. He called writing off Luke, played by Chris Carmack, and Anna, played by Samaire Armstrong, "not smart" on his part. "If I could go back in time and do it all over again I would have for sure kept Anna and Luke in the show," Schwartz told Uproxx.
The writers' room considered pairing Luke and Anna in an opposites-attract storyline, and debated pairing Ryan with Anna, Luke with Summer, and Seth with Marissa. Following the rating success of season one, Fox asked Schwartz to develop a spinoff series focused on Anna. "They wanted it to be about Anna," Schwartz recalled, though he ultimately chose to focus exclusively on the main series.
Crossovers, Character Deaths and Departures
Producers also discussed a crossover episode with fellow Fox comedy Arrested Development, which was also set in Southern California. Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz and Schwartz discussed having actors from The O.C. appear as themselves on the sitcom. Schwartz ultimately decided the concept was too meta to air.
Major storylines were occasionally leaked before broadcast. Barton spoiled her character's death in the season three finale during an Access Hollywood interview shortly before the episode aired, saying, "My character has been through so, so much, and there's really nothing more left for her to do." Schwartz told the Daily Beast that killing off Marissa was a difficult decision "born out of a number of issues" including "creative, cast chemistry, ratings."
Addressing rumors about Barton's departure, Schwartz clarified, "Mischa didn't want off the show any more than any of the other kids wanted off the show." He noted that while there was "a complicated chemistry with the cast," Barton was not actively seeking to leave. "I think they had mixed feelings about their fame emanating from a teen drama on Fox," Schwartz added. "It wasn't how they sort of imagined their careers going, so that was challenging for sure."
Recasting also occurred within the Cooper family. Shailene Woodley played Marissa's younger sister Kaitlyn in season one, but Willa Holland took over the role when the character returned as an older teenager. Although Holland is only five months older than Woodley in real life, Schwartz told Uproxx, "Well, she felt older. Five months is a lifetime at that age."
Network Changes and Unplanned Legacy
The show almost ended after three seasons when a new network president moved away from teen programming. "There was a version of the show not coming back in season four," Schwartz recalled in Uproxx, noting that leadership changes created a real possibility of cancellation. Following season four, then CW president Dawn Ostroff was extremely interested in picking up a fifth season.
Schwartz credited the teen drama with paving the way for popular reality television hits like Laguna Beach, The Hills, and The Real Housewives of Orange County. "You're welcome, America. Yeah, the accidental legacy," Schwartz joked to Uproxx. "You know, I would have liked to have a piece of the Real Housewives franchise, that's for sure... You know, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I guess is the expression, and so are reality shows based on your show. I'm flattered."
Offscreen dynamics evolved alongside the characters. Brody and Bilson dated for most of the show's four-year run before breaking up while filming the final season, which ended with their characters getting married. Brody later married Leighton Meester, star of Schwartz's subsequent teen drama Gossip Girl.
Despite their close friendship on screen, Seth and Ryan only hugged twice across all four seasons, once in the pilot and once in the series finale. The show's legacy extended into academia, as Berkeley Law School created a Sandy Cohen Public Defender Fellowship to honor the fictitious law alumnus.
