Mischa Barton talks 'The Hills' reboot: 'It felt like this was supposed to happen'

News that former The O.C. star Mischa Barton would join the cast of The Hills in the upcoming reboot, The Hills: New Beginnings, was a surprise to fans, but perhaps not so much to the actress herself.

“It’s weird because I remember going out with Nicole Richie and people at the time, and we would come by set when they were filming The Hills,” Barton explains in a new interview with the cast for the April 2019 issue of Cosmopolitan. “[Richie] would drag me to the producer van to see what you guys had been up to all day. All these years later…it sounds corny, but it felt like this was supposed to happen.”

Mischa Barton, right, joins the cast of
Mischa Barton, right, joins the cast of “The Hills” for a new photo shoot. (Photo: Ben Watts, Cosmopolitan)

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Barton reveals later in the interview that, at the same time, she can feel lonely in her new job.

“I sometimes get in over my head,” Barton says. “I didn’t really consider the fact that they’re all such close friends. They’re family girls. They all have husbands or ex-husbands and babies.”

The actress recalls being worried that “the drama would land on me because I don’t have babies. But the bulk of the drama comes from the history they have.”

For instance, Heidi Montag confirms that she still isn’t speaking to Lauren Conrad, her frenemy from the original show, who won’t be returning to the MTV hit.

“Sometimes things happen that will change how you feel about people, and sometimes it’s very permanent,” Montag says. “I thought with Lauren and me, we would’ve been friends again.”

Mischa Barton, left, stands with some of her co-stars on
Mischa Barton, left, stands with some of her co-stars on “The Hills,” including Whitney Port, Heidi Montag and Audrina Patridge. (Photo: Ben Watts, Cosmopolitan)

While Barton doesn’t have history on the show, she brings plenty of experience in Hollywood to it. Back in her early 20s, she spent her time offscreen hanging out with not only Richie, but other It Girls of the day, such as Lindsay Lohan (though definitely not Paris Hilton).

She has an opinion on Lohan’s own new reality TV series, Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club, although she hasn’t watched it: “I’m so afraid,” Barton says. “I think it might send me into a tailspin.”

When singer Ashlee Simpson’s name comes up, Barton has a story: “One time, we were waiting for her at dinner and I texted her,” she says, “and she was like, ‘I just stopped off to get a tattoo.’ Just a quick before-dinner tattoo! I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t think you’re going to make it to dinner.'”

Barton’s first appearance on The Hills reboot airs this summer.

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