Peter Gallagher Is ‘So Grateful’ That Mischa Barton Is ‘Still Alive’

Peter Gallagher is so proud of how far Mischa Barton has come since their time on The O.C.

“I’ve always felt very protective of her,” Gallagher, 69, said of Barton, 38, in an interview with The Independent published on Sunday, October 27. “First fame is toxic. First fame can kill you.”

Gallagher and Barton starred on The O.C. together in the early 2000s. The cast also included Ben McKenzie, Adam Brody, Rachel Bilson and more. Gallagher played Orange County lawyer Sandy Cohen, who welcomes troubled teen Ryan Atwood (Mackenzie) into his family. Barton starred as Marissa Cooper, who lived next door to the Cohens and was Ryan’s love interest.

The O.C. ran for four seasons from 2003 to 2007. While Gallagher remained on the drama until the finale, Barton exited the show in 2006 after her character was killed off in the shocking season 3 finale.

Related: ‘The O.C.’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

Welcome to The O.C.! Ben McKenzie, Adam Brody, Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson were catapulted to fame while starring on the hit teen drama. The Fox series ran from August 2003 to February 2007 and focused on the lives of affluent teenagers in Newport Beach, California. McKenzie (Ryan Atwood), Brody (Seth Cohen), Barton (Marissa Cooper), Bilson […]

“She was 16 years old when she started working with us,” Gallagher told the outlet on Sunday. “So just the fact that she’s still alive, I’m just so grateful.”

One year after her departure, Barton went through a series of public struggles. In 2007, the actress was arrested in Los Angeles for drunk driving, marijuana possession and driving without a license. She pleaded no contest and was sentenced to three years of probation.

Years later, Barton shared that the level of fame she achieved from the series had an impact on her mental health.

“I’ve spoken before about feeling really detached and [about] what fame did to me in my 20s and feeling really agoraphobic about things,” she said to Entertainment Tonight in 2020. “It caused some depression and some anxiety and things like that. I’ve dealt with that my whole life. I like to be quite open about it.”

Barton added that she sought out help from a counselor to help her work out her feelings and find a path forward.

“I talk to a lot of people about this kind of stuff,” she continued. “I think it’s all about being honest about the way that you feel about things. That’s how you heal. When you’re trying to hide things, it gets worse.”

Earlier this year, Barton opened up about how things were “complicated” for her while on set of The O.C. — especially when she started dating McKenzie, now 46, in real life.

“Acting with people older than me was a bit like, ‘Oh, wow, they know what they’re doing. There’s going to be relationships on this show and you’re going to need to play that part.’ I didn’t feel really ready for that,” Barton said during a February appearance on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “I was always a really late bloomer in school, and I hadn’t really dated. I just had no idea what I was doing, really. So, I felt like I needed to catch up.”