It’s been 15 years since the Cohens of Newport Beach, California, first adopted social outsider Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) into their lives and since we first fell in love with teen soap The O.C.
Where have the main cast gone since their dramatic debut on our screens?
TV Week takes a fond trip down memory lane as we celebrate the anniversary of the show’s premiere.
BEN MCKENZIE (Ryan Atwood)
Ben McKenzie as Ryan Atwood.
Texas-born McKenzie proved he could do sullen and earnest all in one as newbie Ryan, his breakthrough role.
He would later play cop Ben Sherman on the drama Southland before growing as an actor and director in Gotham, the Batman prequel in which he stars as Det. James Gordon.
Now 39, McKenzie is married to Gotham co-star Morena Baccarin; the two share daughter Frances, 3.
ADAM BRODY (Seth Cohen)
Adam Brody as Seth Cohen.
Ryan got the brotherly support he always needed when he met Seth Cohen, the ever savvy pop-culture enthusiast, played by Brody, who got his first taste of fame playing Barry Williams in the 2000 film Growing Up Brady.
After The O.C., Brody, 38, returned to films, including the 2010 drama The Oranges, where he met his wife, actress Leighton Meester. The pair married in 2014 and had daughter Arlo a year later.
MISCHA BARTON (Marissa Cooper)
Mischa Barton as Marissa Cooper.
The classic tragic, Marissa seemed like your average girl next door—if she were very, very troubled. Before she met her end in a car accident in Season 3, Marissa became a flashpoint character for teen dramas and made a star out of Barton, who won two Teen Choice Awards at the height of her O.C. fame.
Now 32, Barton has turned her attention to indie films, and in November won a legal battle against ex-boyfriend Adam Spaw, who agreed not to release an alleged sex tape involving Barton.
RACHEL BILSON (Summer Roberts)
Rachel Bilson as Summer Roberts.
Summer defied the rich-girl stereotype by becoming Seth’s sweetheart, and Marissa’s bestie, and in the process made viewers fans of Bilson, who in 2011 earned her own headlining series, Hart of Dixie, also by The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz.
Now on US drama Takes Two, Bilson, 36, is also a mum to 3-year-old Briar Rose, her daughter with ex-partner Hayden Christensen.
CHRIS CARMACK (Luke Ward)
Chris Carmack as Luke Ward.
Every teen drama needs a bad dude and Luke, Marissa’s boyfriend in Season 1, proved Enemy No. 1 when, after a fight with Ryan, he declared, “Welcome to the O.C., bitch!” For Carmack, an athlete turned male model, the role provided his entry point to acting.
Now 37, Carmack plays gay country singer Will on the drama Nashville. Away from the screen, Carmack and fiancée Erin Slaver are parents to a 23-month-old daughter.
