Mischa Barton

Mischa Anne Marsden Barton (born 24 January 1986) is a British-American film, television, and stage actress.

She began her career on the stage, appearing in Tony Kushner's Slavs! and took the lead in James Lapine's Twelve Dreams at New York City's Lincoln Center.

Barton began acting at the age of eight, co-starring in the Off-Broadway premiere of the 1994 play, Slavs!, written by Tony Kushner.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised Barton's "so fine" and "chillingly authoritative" performance.

New York magazine also praised her as "a darling little girl, [that] exhibits consummate charm".

She appeared in several other Off-Broadway productions, taking a lead role in James Lapine's Twelve Dreams alongside Marisa Tomei at Lincoln Center.

Canby again praised Barton, noting that she "has a sweet gravity as the doomed Emma".

Barton first appeared on television in 1994, playing a young Corvina Lang in flashbacks in the soap opera All My Children.

She made her screen debut with a guest appearance on the American soap opera All My Children (1995), and voicing a character on the Nickelodeon cartoon series KaBlam! (1996–97).

In 1996 Barton had a supporting role in Catherine Butterfield's Where the Truth Lies which opened at New York's Irish Repertory Theatre.

The New York Times also remarked that "the winning child actresses Brittany Boyd and Mischa Barton are already smart enough not to overplay the naivete and precocity of their respective characters."

In 1996, she returned to the show, replacing Michelle Trachtenberg in the role of Lily Benton Montgomery.

She guest-starred in eight episodes of the television series Once and Again as Jessie Sammler's (Evan Rachel Wood) girlfriend, Katie (singer).

Her first major film role was as the protagonist of Lawn Dogs (1997), a drama co-starring Sam Rockwell.

In 1997, she appeared alongside Dianne Wiest at The Public Theater in Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare.

The New York production went on to win the Obie Award for Best Play.

She made her film debut in Lawn Dogs, which won awards at film festivals around the world.

Barton won critical favour for her role, with Janet Maslin of The New York Times praising her "poised" performance and Empire celebrating her "hypnotic central performance".

She appeared in major pictures such as the romantic comedy Notting Hill (1999) and M. Night Shyamalan's psychological thriller The Sixth Sense (1999).

She also starred in the indie crime drama Pups (1999).

Barton then appeared in Notting Hill (1999) and The Sixth Sense (1999).

Both films were critically and commercially successful, respectively earning $363,889,700 and $672,806,292.

She also starred in Pups, a "Dog Day Afternoon for the MTV generation", alongside Burt Reynolds; along with her co-star Cameron Van Hoy, film critic Roger Ebert called their work in the film "two of the most natural and freed performances I have seen by actors of any age."

Barton later appeared in the independent drama Lost and Delirious (2001) and guest-starred as Evan Rachel Wood's girlfriend on ABC's Once and Again (2001–02).

She played Marissa Cooper in the Fox television series The O.C. (2003–2006), for which she received two Teen Choice Awards.

The role brought Barton into mainstream fame, and Entertainment Weekly named her the "It Girl" of 2003.

Barton graduated from the Professional Children's School in Manhattan in 2004, and took a summer short course called Acting Shakespeare at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, in June and July 2006, at Sir Richard Attenborough's urging, after he directed her in Closing the Ring.

In 2006, she became a naturalised citizen of the United States, but retained her British citizenship.

She is also eligible for Irish citizenship through her mother.

Barton has since appeared in the comedy remake St Trinian's (2007), the Richard Attenborough–directed drama Closing the Ring (2007) and Assassination of a High School President (2008).

She returned to television, starring in the short-lived Ashton Kutcher-produced CW series The Beautiful Life (2009).

In 2012, she returned to the stage, performing in the Irish production of Steel Magnolias.

She also appeared alongside Martin Sheen in Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain (2014).

She has garnered critical praise for her roles in independent films, with the Los Angeles Times praising her "standout" performance in Starcrossed (2014).

Barton was cast in the first season of the MTV series The Hills: New Beginnings (2019–2021), a reboot of The Hills.

In 2023, she was cast in an extended guest role for the rebooted Australian soap opera, Neighbours on Amazon Freevee and Network 10.

Barton was born at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London, to an Irish mother, Nuala Quinn-Barton, a producer, and an English father, Paul Marsden Barton, a foreign exchange broker from Manchester.

Her maternal grandfather was an Irish language professor at Queen's University Belfast.

She has two sisters, Hania (younger) and Zoe (older), the latter a barrister in London.

Barton has stated that she briefly attended St. Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith, but her father's work took the family to New York City when Barton was five years old.