Once, Twice, (Hopefully) Three Times A Lady

People love to chide Mischa Barton for her acting style, often described as "blank."  I say, however-- Al Pacino yells.  Johnny Depp quirks.  Meryl Streep sighs.  If Mischa wants to make her thesbianic mark through the smoldering use of her amazing cheekbones and lack of expression, I'm willing to give her some room.  For me the more pressing issue concerning Mischa is why she seems to only have on-screen chemistry with girls.

I first became interested in Mischa when she appeared in 2001 as Katie Singer on the unfairly canceled Once and Again.  Katie was that breed of popular high schooler who, while able to navigate whichever social group she desired, always seemed to hover above everyone who wanted to be near her.   This wasn't because the character was written or portrayed as a snob, but, as it became clear, because she suspected that she didn't necessarily fit in among her classmates, that she found it difficult to connect.  At the time I didn't know that Mischa had once had a British accent, so I found her clipped speech to be incredibly endearing, as it was the lingual equivalent of Katie's romantic gestures.  Finding herself attracted to Evan Rachel Wood's character, Jessie Sammler, Katie made awkward stabs at brushing Jessie's arm, inviting her to hang out, and then, ultimately, kissing her and professing love in Jessie's attic.

Katie and Jessie were one of the cutest television couples I've ever seen in my illustrious TV watching career.   The depiction of their coming together was a double whammy, since not only was it first love, which is nearly always rewarding on well-written hour-long dramas on television, but it was troubled love.  Both Katie and Jessie were rocked by what was happening to them, and this gave their relationship a coming-of-age urgency that gradually heightened the stakes for each girl from week to week.  Katie and Jessie wanted to be with each other so badly, and yet they didn't exactly know how they could exist in the relationship, and they weren't sure about the lengths to which the other was willing to go.  Because of these performances, I thought both girls were going to be big stars.

When Mischa showed up as Marissa on The O.C., I watched the first episode with the expectation that she'd carry the same fresh and fumbling romanticism over to the show with her, but as she and Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan) stood at the bottom of their driveways and met not-so-cute, I saw that perhaps lightning doesn't strike twice within one actress.  I watched the same thing happen when the producers brought in D.J. the gardener this year- an actor who, I suspect, was supposed to represent something carnal, but instead was an immediately apparent doof from his first appearance.  As I watched Marissa fail to have chemistry with a single love interest on the show, I wondered how I could have been so wrong about her potential in the days of Once and Again, when she seemed so unbearably realistic and unsure of herself, despite her obvious beauty.  I wondered if it was all the Marc Jacobs sundresses and velvet floppy-bow berets that The O.C. was throwing on Mischa, making her into a stiff mannequin that appeared ten years her senior.  On Once and Again Mischa was down-to-earth in knit shirts, pony tails and jeans, and I questioned whether or not wardrobe could have such an impact on her acting.

But now that the character of Alex has entered the picture, and, seeing the long-awaited sparkage between them, I joyfully thought to myself, "Marissa's a new girl!"  Except then I realized that Marissa's not a new girl at all- she's still quintessentially Mischa, with her draggy pauses between greeting and resulting dialogue ("Heyyyyyyy") and her eyes that dart all over the place as she speaks.  But whereas normally these behaviors are taken as indicators of Mischa's blase acting style, i.e. her lack of effort and uninvolvement in scenes, when Mischa is around a girl, I posit, these behaviors suddenly become poignant.  For once she has reason to act so dodgy and unwilling to extend herself, because in both the Katie and Alex relationships, she has portrayed a girl who's surprised to find herself attracted to a girl, and the personal shock of the situation takes a normally confident character and makes her into a sweet, nervous teenager.  In other words, the Alex relationship finally brings Marissa down to the age range she's supposed to be playing.  I know that viewers criticized Mischa's closed-mouth technique during last Thursday's first kiss, but instead of prudishness, I saw a portrayal of tentativeness, of a character who's acting on a romantic impulse that she never predicted for herself, and who's so enthralled with the moment that all she can do is bask in it and press back hard with her lips- and, of course, those amazing cheekbones become highlighted by the intensity of the pressing.

I imagine that the writers and producers were attempting to tease out this quality in Mischa in that original pairing with the character of Ryan, but finding yourself attracted to someone from Chino is not quite the same as finding yourself attracted to someone that you never considered you would be.  I mean, please, Chino's not that gigantic of a romantic obstacle.  From the get go it was obvious that Ryan had middle-class makeover potential and, with the added benefit of his well-flaunted fisticuffs and leather bracelet, we all knew he'd win over the Newport Harbor cool kid population in no time.  Although D.J. the gardener, on the other hand, wasn't about to win over anyone with his complete lack of background, character, or ties to the grand narrative, he wasn't a risk for Marissa either.  Race and class issues were never fully examined (the same could be said for the relationship with Ryan re: class), and we all knew D.J. was out when Marissa leaned against his chest atop the lifeguard station, and looked as if she might comfortably fall asleep.  Mischa only succeeds as a romantic actress when the stakes are high enough, apparently, and from what I've seen of her work so far, lesbian relationships have been the only ones that have managed to wring a likable vulnerability from her television persona.

As for what's going on in Mischa's real romantic life, I can't even venture a guess after seeing this bizarro line-up during her day out with Brandon and fam:

Comments

[Beth]

But where is space-hooker Courtney Peldon in that picture, or did she break up with Jason???

[Johanna]

Damn, I love your posts. You're so effing clever it's not funny. And it makes me jealous, because you're so young. (I guess I'm only two years older than you, but still.)

You're so right about Mischa only have lesbian chemistry. I never thought about it before now. I was a huge O&A fan and it's freaky how different she seems on The O.C. It's almost like it's another actress. I can't connect the two (couldn't until the Alex thing). I'm still bummed we never got to see the Katie/Jessie storyline play out. I feel cheated, even three years later.

Congrats on the new book deal, btw. Can't wait to read it.

[andreaa]

it's my official guess that courtney is not in the picture because she was "recuperating" from her on set "stabbing."

[megan]

Nice catch. I have been disappointed with Marissa's character on the OC because she was so great as Katie on O & A, and that nervous urgency that she emmitted was absent until the Alex/Marissa storyline evolved. I agree that as a romantic actress, Mischa needs the stakes to be high enough to fully evolve as an actress. Desiring Alex seems to take the confident Marissa off guard, and here her acting talents as a romantic actress emerge. The talent's there; let's just see what she does with it...

[Stacey]

I've thought the exact same thing recently, I'd often make comments to some of my friends about the chemistry and seemingly better acting when she's around women.

[Kate]

Interesting article. I'm not sure I would go as far as to call Jessie and Katie's love a troubled one(as you did)but there was definately potential for issues considering the type of relationship they were in and I guess you could say the stakes were a little high. I'm not sure I agree with or know what you mean when you say they were't sure how to exist in the relationship. But I definately agree with your opinion that they weren't sure about the lenghs the other was willing to go.

Too bad we didn't get to see more of the them. They were a cute couple. We didn't get to see much of them at the end of the show but at least they seemed to be really happy. Once and Again was a great show. I'm still angy it got cancelled.

Anyways, on to the O.C., it does seem that Mischa lacks chemistry with many of her love interests. I definately never saw much chemisty between her and Ryan. I also thought she had no chemistry with D.J. too. It's funny because a lot of people think that Alex is the only person Marissa has ever had any chemistry with. There definately a more likeable pairing than any one Marissa has been in so far. For me anyway. So maybe you are right when you say that she only works as a romantic actress when the stakes are high. Overall, I think this is a good article. I don't agree with everything you said but you have many interesting and clever ideas and opinions.

[Stacey]

Great great article.

You've voiced the opinions of many Mischa fans from O&A who've stuck around for the O.C

Now if only you could find a way to get this to Josh...

[Jaime]

Very well written. I wish I've seen more of The OC so I could know what you're talking about but alas, I've only recently tuned in for the Alex/Marissa relationsip. Yes, I'm shallow. :)

[alexa]

Great article! I enjoy reading other people's opinions on this topic, but I especially like yours since it is so close to my own ;] Congrtulations on your first novel as well, I checked out the review on Amazon and I can't wait to read it!

[Liz]

This was a great commentary! I really do agree with your thoughts. Mischa appears more appealing and truthful an actress when her character has to pair up with a female. It's intriguing why that happens... but yes, she plays the 'insecure teen who's nervous yet excited, on the verge of risking it all' quality very well. All of which are very much missing from the relationships Marissa has had.

[Lin]

you should get Evan Rachel Wood on the Oc as a love interest for Mischa and see how she acts then. hhehehehe