The Fox drama The O.C. premiered on August 5, 2003, and when it did, it not only got Phantom Planet's song "California" permanently stuck in our heads, but it also gave us a look into the lavish mansions and lifestyles of Newport Beach, CA. In such an insular, cliquish society, it's not much of a surprise that everyone always looked damn good - and hardly appeared to age.
Though the show only aired four seasons, the characters went through a number of ups and downs - from jail to alcohol addiction, death, pregnancies (yes, plural), and marriage - all without ever seeming to age much at all. The O.C. taught us about family, friendship, Chrismukkah, Death Cab for Cutie, and what it means to be young and rich.
In the world of Newport Beach, where Botox is a-plenty, it makes sense that the characters from The O.C. hardly aged from Season 1 through Season 4. But looking the same for several years can be tough for an actor. So take a look at these before-and-after photos of your favorite O.C. cast members, and see how well they maintained their character's look over four long years.
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- Warner Bros.
- Warner Bros.
Mischa Barton, who was 17 when she first acted on The O.C., definitely grew up during her three seasons on the show. By the time her series run concluded, she was 20. In fact, as Barton explained, the show kind of forced her to grow up too fast:
“It’s tough. It’s really tough when you are young in this business. People blow a lot of hot air at you... Even when you think your head is on your shoulders, sometimes it isn’t. It’s just one of those things when you are growing under a microscope, and changing, and, that evolution is human.”
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Ben McKenzie (Ryan Atwood)
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- Warner Bros.
- Warner Bros.
Ben McKenzie was 25 (playing a teenager) during the first season of The O.C. And while he might have passed as a teen in the first season, that was definitely not the case by the last season, in which he looked more mid-twenties than late teens. By the time of his last on-screen appearance, McKenzie was 29.
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- Warner Bros.
- Warner Bros.
Melinda Clarke played the manipulative but highly entertaining character of Julie Cooper, mother of Mischa Barton's character. Clarke was 34-years-old during the time of her first appearance, and ended the series at age 38.
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- Warner Bros.
- Warner Bros.
Adam Brody was 24 when he first started playing the adorkable Seth Cohen. Over the course of The O.C.'s four seasons, Seth became a teen heartthrob and geek icon. When the series concluded, he was 38. Brody told US magazine that he looks back at the role the same way one might look back at college:
“I mean, maybe it's the equivalent of, like, 'Do you miss being back in college?' Which I never went to, but... there are fun things about it. But that character? No. That was a character from 2004, and it's very much of that time... My interests don't lie there at all anymore.”
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- Warner Bros.
- Warner Bros.
Rachel Bilson was actually only supposed to appear as Summer in a few episodes, but her chemistry with Mischa Barton was so good that the writers gave her a bigger role as the series went on. She first joined the cast when she was 22-years-old. By the time the series concluded, Bilson was 26.
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- Warner Bros.
- Warner Bros.
The character of Kirsten "Kiki" Cohen (played by Kelly Rowan) battled daddy issues, a drinking problem, and then a pregnancy, all the while looking flawless. Kelly Rowan was 38 during her first appearance. By the time the series ended, she was 42.
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