'The O.C.' creators say they regret killing off Mischa Barton's character but they were 'under treme

• The creative team behind "The O.C." discussed Marissa Cooper's (Mischa Barton) shocking death.
• Creator Josh Schwartz told Vanity Fair that he "immediately" regretted the storyline decision.
• Producer Stephanie Savage added that the order to kill a series regular "came down from the top."

Mischa Barton's departure from"The O.C." remains one of the most shocking TV deaths of all time — and the creative team behind the hit teen drama doesn't necessarily stand by their decision.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair to mark the teen drama's 20th anniversary, series creator Josh Schwartz and producer Stephanie Savage reflected on their decision to kill off Barton's character, Marissa Cooper, and admitted that in retrospect, it was a mistake to write her out the way they did.

"It's something that we regret, and looking back on it, we wish we could have come up with a different solution," Schwartz said.

"We didn't see an alternative path at the time, which is why we went down that road," he continued. 

"But obviously in hindsight, there were lots of other ways we could have written the character off the show — and given Mischa the break that she needed and wanted — that still would've allowed for that character to return."

In the teen drama's season three finale, one of Marissa's ex-boyfriends drove her and Ryan's (Ben McKenzie) car off the side of a road. Ryan pulled Marissa from the wreckage, and she died in his arms.

Schwartz went on to say that the audience's reaction to Marissa's death "did not feel good."

He said: "When Marissa shot Trey, everyone was very upset in a way that was fun to experience. They were shocked, and I heard from parents who said their kids were crying about what had happened." 

"Ultimately it was the reaction you wanted to get out of the audience," he said of Trey's death.

In comparison, Marissa's unexpected demise was not as well received by fans.

"It did not feel like that audience had been served or respected in the way that we always wanted and aimed to. Immediately, we had regret at that point," Schwartz added.

Savage said that the decision to kill off Marissa stemmed from network pressure over ratings.

She said: "We were also under tremendous pressure to do something with that level of drama. Killing a series regular came down from the top." 

"If we wanted a season four, we'd have to do something like that," she added.

Ultimately, the show was canceled during its fourth season.

In a 2021 interview with E! News, Barton spoke candidly about her experience filming "The O.C." and said she asked to have her character killed off after facing "general bullying from some of the men on set that kind of felt really shitty."

"There were people on that set that were very mean to me," she said. "It wasn't, like, the most ideal environment for a young, sensitive girl who's also been thrust into stardom to have to put up with."

Barton said that she was given the option to have Marissa "sail off into the sunset," leaving the potential for her to "come back in the future in some bizarre TV scenario," or be killed off — and she chose the latter.

Watch: How frozen-in-time scenes are shot for movies and TV

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufony1tMRmppxlk6eyosDOq6pmqpWcv6bAjKSgpaSZo7Ruu8WfZKaho5i1onnBmqmtp55iuqK%2ByKyqmmViZX90eZc%3D