Mischa Barton reveals she dated The O.C. costar Ben McKenzie when she was 17 and he was 25: ‘It was kind of complicated for me’

Mischa Barton says an early romance with actor Ben McKenzie, who she costarred with on The O.C., paved a ‘complicated’ path for her early on in her time on the popular Fox teen drama.

The 38-year-old actress says she was 17 when she dated a 25-year-old McKenzie, as their respective characters, Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood, were linked romantically in the storyline of the series.

The romance wasn’t ‘just on screen,’ Barton said Wednesday in an appearance on the podcast