Olivia Wilde Recalls First Time Meeting On-Screen Girlfriend Mischa Barton as 'The O.C.' Turns 20

Olivia Wilde is throwing it back to her days on The O.C.. More specifically, she is recalling the first time she got to meet her co-star Mischa Barton.

The 39-year-old actress and director played a queer character named Alex Kelly for a few episodes on the popular show back in 2004. If you forgot, Alex was romantically involved with Mischa‘s character Marissa Cooper.

The O.C. just celebrated its 20th anniversary, leading to renewed interest. Olivia took to social media to reflect on her chance to share the screen with Mischa. In the process, she revealed her very flattering first impression of her co-star.

Read more about Olivia Wilde’s memories of Mischa Barton…

“Mischa = one of the most beautiful faces I’ve ever seen,” Olivia wrote on her Instagram story. “I remember just being like WHOOOAAAA.”

She also joked about her character’s butterfly tattoo, which she described as “the s-it” even though it “moved up and down an average of 3 inches in every scene.”

Fans of The O.C. might recall that this is not the first time that Olivia has talked about working with Mischa.

In fact, back in 2016 she opened up about the role during an interview on The Howard Stern Show, saying that she jokingly told the casting team that she was “not taking the job unless [she] got to make out with Mischa Barton.”

“And they blanched, and they were like ‘did someone leak you the scripts?’ And I was like, ‘no way?! I’m making out with Mischa Barton.’” She added that it was “so sweet” and not awkward at all.

You might be surprised to learn that Olivia was one of two actresses who were almost cast in Mischa‘s role on The O.C. way back when! find out who else was up for her part.

Press play on Olivia Wilde’s throwback interview below…