Mischa Barton

February 1, 2005

Mischa Barton was born on January 22, 1986 in London, England. She is the middle sister in her family of five. She has an older sister Zoe and a younger sister Hania. Because of her father's job as a Stock Broker, they moved often. She lived in France, Germany, Switzerland and England before she even turned the age of four. When she was five her father decided to take a job in New York and they've been there ever since.

When Mischa was eight she attended a summer camp where she took a writing course. She wrote a monologue and performed it at the end of the camp for all of the parents. That was the best thing to happen to Mischa, while she was performing an agent came up to her mom and suggested that she should audition for theater because she had good stage presence. When she returned to New York, she auditioned for and landed a lead role as a young girl named Emma in Slavs. The play was a big hit and Mischa soon began acting in New York as a child actress. When Mischa was 11 she landed a leading role in the independent film Lawn Dogs. After that she was offered a role as the sick child in The Sixth Sense. Though her role was small she was a memorable character and that movie gave her career a huge push. The film was a hit and she accepted a role in the movie Notting Hill and on television's Once and Again.

Determined to continue acting Mischa accelerated her studies and earned a high school diploma at the age of 15. By then she was happy with the balance she had achieved between school and a career. She was beginning to think of where she would go to college when her agent contacted her about a show called The O.C. Mischa jumped at the chance to audition and as you know she landed the part. Unlike her other castmates who live in L.A., she shares a small rented house with her mom while the show shoots. The rest of her family still lives in New York except for Zoe, who is a trial lawyer in London. Mischa knows that one day she will go to college but for now she concentrates her energy onto the show that has made her a star.