Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson Cry While Watching Marissa’s ‘The O.C.’ Death Scene: ‘I Can’t Do This’

11.01.2023 - 01:59 / usmagazine.com

California, here we come. Former The O.C. costars Rachel Bilson, Melinda Clarke and Mischa Barton had an emotional reunion for the show’s 20th anniversary — and revisited one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the teen soap’s history.

The Hills alum, 36, made an appearance on the Tuesday, January 10, episode of the “Welcome to the O.C., Bitches” podcast to look back at memories from her time on the show. The teen drama juggernaut, which ran from 2003 to 2007, starred Barton as Marissa Cooper and Bilson, 41, as her best friend Summer Roberts. Adam Brody and Ben Mckenzie, for their parts, portrayed love interests Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood, respectively. (Clarke, 53, portrayed Marissa’s mother, Julie Cooper.)

While the Fox hit ran for four seasons, fans said goodbye to Barton’s character in the season 3 finale, which aired in May 2006. In the now iconic scene, Ryan carries Marissa away from an exploding vehicle before she dies in his arms.

“It needed to be a thing, after everything she’s been through, but if it’s here I’ll watch it with you,” Barton told Bilson and Clarke during Tuesday’s podcast episode, agreeing to revisit the moment she exited the series. The Hart of Dixie alum replied, “I couldn’t do it, Mischa, I couldn’t do it. But I’m going to do it if you’re going to do it.”

As the trio relived the horrific scene for the first time together, Barton opened up about the empathy she had for her character’s journey. “Poor Marissa. She really, really goes through it,” she gushed. When Bilson began crying, Barton added, “Oh no, I’m getting really sad too. You can’t cry, Rachel!”

While the women attempted to press pause on the episode while wiping away tears, they caught a glimpse of the throwback montage that replayed Ryan