Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton in London, 2006
Born	Mischa Anne Marsden Barton (1986-01-24) 24 January 1986 (age 26) Hammersmith, London, UK
Occupation	Actress, model, fashion designer
Years active	1995–present

Mischa Anne Marsden Barton (born 24 January 1986) is a British-American fashion model, film, television, and stage actress. She began her acting career on the stage, appearing in Tony Kushner's Slavs! and took the lead in James Lapine's Twelve Dreams at New York's Lincoln Center. She made her screen debut, making a guest appearance on the American soap opera All My Children (1996). She then voiced a character on KaBlam! (1996–1997), an animated television series on Nickelodeon. Her first major film role was as the protagonist of Lawn Dogs (1997), an acclaimed drama co-starring Sam Rockwell. She continued acting, appearing in major box office pictures such as the romantic comedy, Notting Hill (1999) and M. Night Shyamalan's psychological thriller, The Sixth Sense (1999).

She later appeared in the independent drama, Lost and Delirious (2001) and played Evan Rachel Wood's girlfriend during a guest-arc on ABC's Once and Again (2001–2002). She is best known for her role as Marissa Cooper in the Fox television series The O.C. (2003–2006), for which she received two Teen Choice Awards and a Prism Award nomination. Entertainment Weekly named her the "It Girl" of 2003.

She has since appeared in the comedy remake St Trinian's (2007) and the Richard Attenborough-directed drama Closing the Ring (2007). She also starred in the neo noir comedy, Assassination of a High School President (2008), the Roland Joffé drama, You and I (2008) and the horror Homecoming (2009). She returned to television, starring in the short-lived Ashton Kutcher-produced CW series, The Beautiful Life: TBL (2009) and made a guest-appearance in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2010). Her upcoming releases include the historical drama, Bhopal: Prayer for Rain and the horror remake, Apartment 1303 3D.

Biography

Early life

Mischa Barton was born in Hammersmith,¹ West London,²³ to an Irish mother,⁴ Nuala (née Quinn),⁵ a photographer, and an English father, Paul Marsden Barton,⁵ a foreign exchange broker from Manchester.¹ She has two sisters, younger Hania and elder Zoe, a barrister in London.⁶⁷ Her father's work took the family to New York City when Barton was six, and in 2006, ten days after her twentieth birthday,¹ she became a naturalised citizen of the United States. She has retained her British citizenship and, in reference to her English roots, states "I actually feel more comfortable in England a lot of the time",⁸ yet stresses that, "I like people to discern that I'm an English-Irish girl who grew up in New York."¹

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 2006,⁹ at Sir Richard Attenborough's urging,¹⁰¹¹ after he directed her in Closing the Ring.

Career

Stage

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"¹² and "chillingly authoritative"¹³ performance. New York Magazine also praised her as a "a darling little girl, [that] exhibits consummate charm".¹⁴ 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."¹² In 1997, she appeared alongside Diane Wiest at the The Public Theater in Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare. The New York production went on to win the OBIE Award for Best Play.

Film and television

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" performance¹⁵ and Empire celebrating her "hypnotic central performance."¹⁶ 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 modern re-make of Bonnie and Clyde alongside Burt Reynolds.

Barton first appeared on television in 1996, as young Lily Montgomery in the soap opera All My Children, She guest-starred in eight episodes of the television series Once and Again as Jessie Sammler's (Evan Rachel Wood's) girlfriend, Katie Singer. In 2001 she starred in the independent Canadian drama, Lost and Delirious. Other television appearances include an episode of the Fox series Fastlane. She also appears as the love interest in James Blunt's music video "Goodbye My Lover" (2005),¹⁷ and in Enrique Iglesias' music video "Addicted" (2003).¹⁸

In August 2003, Fox premiered the television series The O.C., about affluent teenagers with stormy personal lives who reside in scenic Orange County, California. The show became an overnight success due to its large fanbase,¹⁹ and resulted in Barton's fame being increased through her role as Marissa Cooper. Barton departed from the show in the third-season finale in May 2006. During her time on the show, Barton garnered several Teen Choice Awards. She was also celebrated by Glamour as the "Next Big Thing"²⁰ and as Entertainment Weekly's "It Girl 2003" in the magazine's "It List" for top Creative People in Entertainment.²¹ The O.C. dropped in ratings dramatically during its third and fourth seasons, and ended in early 2007.²²

In July 2006, Barton appeared on the British comedy variety show The Friday Night Project as a guest host.²³ In 2007, Barton appeared in the films The Oh in Ohio and the R-rated comedy film Virgin Territory with Hayden Christensen. She also joined Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer in Richard Attenborough's war drama Closing the Ring. Attenborough praised "her ability to convey pain and sadness, hopefulness and fear, is riveting".²⁴ The Independent also noted that "she lends her character a beguiling vulnerability."²⁴

She also appeared in the British comedy St Trinians (2007), appearing as a former head girl of that school advising current senior pupils on fashion and style.²⁴ Later in 2007, Barton was cast in the international film produced by the Russian band t.A.T.u., called You and I. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008 and was released theatrically in Russia in 2011. She appeared in Assassination of a High School President (2008), co-starring Bruce Willis, when the film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter praised Barton's "captivating" performance.²⁵

She also starred in the horror film Walled In which was released straight-to-DVD in March 2009. It received mixed reviews, but her performance was praised, with IGN calling her performance "terrific".²⁶ Her next horror project, Homecoming received a limited release in July 2009. Barton failed to attend the premiere of the psychological thriller due to a medical issue.²⁷ She also starred in the 2009 film Don't Fade Away. In early 2009 she began filming alongside Martin Sheen in Bhopal: Prayer for Rain a biopic of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The title is currently in post-production and slated for a 2012 release.

In a December 2007 interview, she indicated that she would return to television for the right project; "It's not that I dislike doing television at all. It would be interesting having more creative control over where the storylines go or the characters. But for the right thing, of course."²⁴ In 2009 she starred as one of the main characters on The Beautiful Life a new series on The CW.²⁸²⁹ The series was subsequently cancelled on 25 September 2009 after televising 2 episodes.³⁰ In December 2009 the technology company HP became the show's sponsor and began airing the show's five episodes on YouTube.³¹³²

She guest starred on a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode that aired on 3 March 2010.³³ In July 2010 she was cast in the horror-thriller Into the Darkness.³⁴ A month later she completed a short shoot on the upcoming independent comedy-drama Beauty and the Least.³⁵ In November 2010 she began filming a new reality television show pilot for the Oxygen network.³⁶ She began filming The Sibling in December 2010, a horror film alongside Michael Clarke Duncan and Devon Sawa. Barton plays a high school guidance counselor.³⁷

On 15 June 2011 she began filming Offline, a Lifetime television film. Barton stars as the protagonist whose parents were murdered 13 years earlier by a serial killer. Her life in seclusion is interrupted when she is discovered by her parents' killer. The film is expected to air in 2012.³⁸ She has also been cast alongside Rebecca De Mornay in Apartment 1303 3D, the English-language remake of the Japanese horror film, Apartment 1303.³⁹ The horror is currently in production, filming in Montreal since November 2011.⁴⁰ Her next role will be as the protagonist in Mark Edwin Robinson's supernatural romance thriller, I Will Follow You Into the Dark.⁴¹

Modelling, fashion design, and endorsements

Barton has been in many television commercials and print advertising campaigns. Barton has modeled for companies Calvin Klein, bebe stores, Aéropostale, Monsoon Accessorize, Dooney & Bourke, JC (Jeans and Clothes), European clothing line Morgan de Toi, Jaspal, and Neutrogena skincare products. She became the spokesperson for Keds Sneakers, substantially increasing their sales.⁴² In Australia, she appears in commercials for teen magazine Famous and was the guest of honour at retail giant David Jones Tahitian Summer Collection launch.⁴³ She has also endorsed Chanel jewelry, appearing at a number of events for the brand. In a 2005 interview,⁴⁴ she stated that she liked the Chanel brand because they produced a large number of clip-on earrings suitable for women who did not have pierced ears, as she did not at the time. In 2009, having had her ears pierced especially for her role in The Beautiful Life, she modelled jewelry for the company Inspired Creations, including pierced earrings and their Waxing Poetic range of charms.⁴⁵

In 2007, Barton also became a spokesperson for the SAFE (Skin Awareness for Everyone) campaign.⁴⁶ In addition, she lent her name to the TRAID campaign (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) in association with Visa Swap.⁴⁷ Barton was photographed in April 2007 for the Fall 2007/2008 advertising campaign for Italian clothing brand Iceberg, modeling with Nicolas Bemberg.⁴⁸

In July 2008, she created a 14 piece handbag collection for online retailer, ASOS.com.⁴⁹ Barton was reportedly very involved in the line which retails from £20 to £145. She told ASOS magazine that she first discovered the website through her sister.⁵⁰

In December 2008, Barton premiered her line of headbands released on the Stacy Lapidus line. The headbands cost from $90 to $200. She also has a handbag line for London-based Ri2k, which is sold in the United Kingdom and Australia only.⁵¹ In early 2009, she became the "new face" of Herbal Essences.⁵²

In June 2010 she was announced as the face of Philipp Plein couture. Plein revealed, “Being in the limelight for a young and beautiful girl, the looks of course always get a lot of attention, Mischa Barton got a lot and learned to live with her fame. For me it was the big challenge to again show her as a Diva, a Rock ´n` Roll Goddessâ€�. The campaign will be circulated in international editions of leading fashion magazines.⁵³⁵⁴

In October 2011 she appeared in a controversial photoshoot for Tyler Shields that was showcased at the Imitate Modern Gallery in London .⁵⁵ Artinfo remarked at the "sense of subjugation" in the raw-meat inspired shoot, "Barton is naked, lipsticked, and icily coiffed like a Duran Duran-era object of desire."⁵⁶

In December 2011 it was reported that Barton plans to open a clothes and shoes store in Shoreditch, the store has the working-title of 'Mischa's Closet'.⁵⁷ In March 2012 she debuted a new line of clothing, accessories, cosmetics, and bath products on the internet called Mischa's Place. Barton has plans to expand Mischa's Place beyond the internet and is set to open a Mischa's Place flagship store in London at Spitalfields Market.⁵⁸

Personal life

Relationships

Barton's previous boyfriends have included Cisco Adler,⁵⁹ Taylor Locke,⁶⁰ Jamie Dornan, Brett Simon,⁶¹ and Brandon Davis.⁶² In December 2008, there were reports that she was dating The Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard.⁶³ The reports were confirmed during the relationship by Pritchard; Barton only confirmed the relationship after the pair split in March 2009, writing on her blog: "I think Luke is a great guy, but the type better suited as a friend. We have a surprising amount of mutual friends in England and I don't regret our time together, I just couldn't keep it going."⁶⁴⁶⁵⁶⁶

Charitable affiliations

Barton is currently the spokesperson for Climate Star, an organization that fights global warming through social and legislative activism.⁶⁷ Barton has worked with the home shopping company QVC to raise funds for women's cancer research.⁶⁸

In 2006, Barton also became a spokesperson for the SAFE (Skin Awareness for Everyone)⁶⁹ campaign and also lent her name to the TRAID campaign (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) in association with Visa Swap.⁷⁰ Barton is an ambassador for Save the Children and the "One Water" campaign which brings water to remote locations in Africa, and is on the board of the "Lupus Research Committee" in Los Angeles.⁷¹

Legal troubles

Barton was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, possession of marijuana, and driving without a valid license on December 27, 2007.⁷² She was stopped by the police during the early morning hours in West Hollywood, California when she was seen "straddling the lanes and failing to signal for a turn". Police discovered during the traffic stop that Barton "was an unlicensed driver and was driving while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage".⁷² She was detained and released later the same morning from the West Hollywood Sheriff Station on US$10,000 bail. On January 11, 2008, Barton called into Ryan Seacrest's radio show On Air with Ryan Seacrest (KIIS FM) and took full responsibility for her actions:

Barton was subsequently charged with two misdemeanors: driving without a valid license; and a DUI.⁷⁴

On January 21, 2010, Barton was sued by her New York landlord for refusing to pay three months of $7,000 per month rent on her apartment.⁷⁵

Psychiatric confinement

In July 2009, after seeking medical attention for a tooth infection, Mischa Barton was sectioned for two weeks under a 5150 that allows a psychiatrist to involuntarily confine a person deemed to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to themselves and others. Of the incident, she said:

Filmography

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Mischa Barton at the Internet Movie Database
• Mischa Barton at AllRovi
• Mischa Barton at People.com
• Mischa's Place Barton's clothing line website
• Mischa Barton Handbags Barton's handbag website