The O.C. creators say pressure to kill off Mischa Barton's character 'came down from the top'

Marissa Cooper's fiery death on The O.C. still haunts series creator Josh Schwartz and producer Stephanie Savage.

In conversation with Vanity Fair for the teen drama's 20th anniversary, Schwartz and Savage — both set to release a book on the series, Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History, alongside Alan Sepinwall on Nov. 28 — looked back on the regrettable decision to kill off Mischa Barton's troubled teen in the season 3 finale, sharing that it all boiled down to network pressure.

"We were under tremendous pressure to do something with that level of drama," Savage recalled. "Killing a series regular came down from the top. If we wanted a season four, we'd have to do something like that."

Schwartz said the two continue to regret the decision. "Looking back on it, we wish we could have come up with a different solution," he said. "We didn't see an alternative path at the time, which is why we went down that road. But obviously in hindsight, there were lots of other ways we could have written the character off the show — and given Mischa the break that she needed and wanted — that still would've allowed for that character to return."

Michael Desmond/FOX Mischa Barton and Ben McKenzie on 'The O.C.'

The audience reaction to the shocking death "did not feel good," Schwartz admitted. "When Marissa shot Trey, everyone was very upset in a way that was fun to experience," he said. "They were shocked, and I heard from parents who said their kids were crying about what had happened. Ultimately it was the reaction you wanted to get out of the audience. And when we saw the reaction after Marissa died from that audience, it did not feel good."

"It did not feel like that audience had been served or respected in the way that we always wanted and aimed to," Schwartz added. "Immediately, we had regret at that point."

In the season 3 finale, Marissa meets her demise via car crash after her drunken ex Volchok (Cam Gigandet), angered that she's broken their relationship off, chases her and Ryan (Ben McKenzie) off the road. The much-maligned fourth and final season followed pals Ryan, Summer (Rachel Bilson), and Seth (Adam Brody) as they reeled from the death and planned their own futures post-high school.

Everett Collection Rachel Bilson, Adam Brody, Mischa Barton, and Ben McKenzie on 'The O.C.'

Barton, who largely remained mum about her departure, addressed her character's fate for the first time back in 2021, alluding to financial factors and alleging bullying on set. "It started pretty early on because it had a lot to do with them adding Rachel in last minute as, after the first season, a series regular and evening out everybody's pay — and sort of general bullying from some of the men on set that kind of felt really sh---y," she told E! News. "But, you know, I also loved the show and had to build up my own walls and ways of getting around dealing with that and the fame that was thrust specifically at me."

"Just dealing with like the amount of invasion I was having in my personal life, I just felt very unprotected, I guess is the best way to put it," Barton added.

The star also appeared on Bilson and onscreen mom Melinda Clarke's rewatch podcast Welcome to the OC, Bitches! earlier this year to revisit the episode. "I think I've probably only seen it once in my life," she told her costars of the scene, recalling of filming, "I was like, 'More blood, more blood.'"

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Ben McKenzie, Rachel Bilson, and more celebrate The O.C.'s 20th anniversary

• Ben McKenzie is rewatching The O.C. with his 7-year-old daughter

• Chris Pratt shares an 'Easter egg' about the time he played the guitar nude on The O.C.