'That was complicated for me': Mischa Barton admits dating 'The OC' co-star Ben McKenzie when she was 17 and he was 25

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Mischa Barton has confirmed being in a relationship with her ‘The OC’ co-star Ben McKenzie when he was 25 and she was a teenager.

During an appearance on Wednesday’s ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast, Barton, now 38, has opened up about her experience playing Marissa Cooper, the teenage love interest of McKenzie’s character, Ryan Atwood.

While McKenzie played a teenager when he was 25, Barton was just 17 when she starred in the hit drama in 2003.

Mischa Barton confirmed being in a relationship with Ben McKenzie

Commenting on the “pretty big age gap,” host Alex Cooper asked Barton, “How did you feel about that romantic on-screen relationship?”

The ‘Homecoming’ star then spilled the bean about the on-screen relationship transcending to off-screen as well, saying, “Yeah, that wasn’t just on-screen, either,” and remarked, “I mean, that was kind of complicated for me.”

She further added during the interview that her relationship with McKenzie was her “first.”

She admitted that as she started the show, she was green, and explained, “I went into that a virgin, a kid, really, feeling like I needed to grow up quickly.”

She added, "It was a lot of my firsts, let’s put it like that,” while adding, “And that kind of really separated me, a little, from them, in the sense that I wasn’t out there living on my own in LA yet.”

Barton went on, “Acting with people older than me was a bit like, ‘Oh wow. They know what they’re doing.’ And there’s gonna be relationships on this show and you’re gonna need to play that part, and I didn’t feel really ready for that, ‘cause I was always a really late bloomer in school and I hadn’t really dated," per HuffPost.

Because of all the confusion, Barton shared, “And I had no idea what I was doing, really,” before explaining, “like I needed to catch up, I think, a lot of the time.”

Mischa Barton admits producers were concerned about their relationship

Amid all confusion, Barton shared that the age gap between her and McKenzie made filming the series “a bit tricky for everyone.”

Barton explained, “It definitely was tricky that it happened, like, right out of the gate,” and added their relationship “kind of set things off on the wrong foot” on set. She shared that the pair started dating pretty much early in the series. 

Barton shared that her relationship with McKenzie left the management and crew of the series concerned. She shared, “I remember they were like, ‘Mischa’s disappeared with Ben and she’s only 17 and a half, 18,’ and the producers went to my parents and were like... it was kind of a whole ordeal.”

She added, “That’s in the very beginning of the show before we’re even like, halfway through a season, so there was a lot going on there.”

Recalling her experience, the ‘Virgin territory’ actress said, "That show, it just... so much happened in three seasons, it really feels like it was over the course of seven years or something, but it wasn’t. It was all crammed into this tiny little space,” per Entertainment Weekly.

The show started in 2003 and continued till 2007.

Barton further noted that despite the producers’ concerns about her romance with McKenzie, it was them who initially encouraged them to pursue a friendship.

She confessed, “It kind of felt like a double-edged sword,” and added,  “[The producers] were like, ‘Oh, we want it to seem like you guys are all really friends and that you have chemistry, and we need this to really work.’”

“And then you sort of get punished for it on the flip side,” continued Barton and added, “And they’re like, ‘Oh, but not so much that it affects our production.’ Or like, ‘What’s going on here?’”

This is, however, not the only time when Barton opened up about working in 'The OC' and her internal turmoil regarding playing a "fast and loose" character while she “still a virgin.”

In an essay written for Harper’s Bazaar UK in 2021, Barton confessed she felt "like a fraud" for playing a character that she described as “fast and loose,” while she was “still a virgin.”

She wrote, “The kids in the show were quintessentially rich, privileged American teenagers drinking, taking drugs, and of course having s*x. I knew it was important to get this thing — my virginity — that was looming over me, the elephant in the room if you will, out of the way."

She continued, “I started to really worry that I couldn’t play this character if I didn’t hurry up and mature a little. Did I ever feel pressured to have s*x with someone? Well, after being pursued by older men in their 30s, I eventually did the deed.”