Tate Donovan Reveals If He’d Return for a Reboot of The O.C.

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Tate Donovan is ready to go right back where he started from.

Casey Moody, known for playing Jimmy Cooper on the TV show The O.C.—Marissa Cooper’s father—said he’s considered what he’d do if the show were ever revived, and he’d absolutely be interested in joining a reboot.

At the Los Angeles premiere of Crime 101, 62-year-old actor told Erin Lim Rhodes of TopMob News that he was impressed with creator Josh Schwartz. He joked about potentially joining the cast, wondering what role he could play, suggesting, ‘The grandfather?’ The film hits theaters February 13th.

Adam Brody, known for his role as Seth Cohen on the popular early 2000s TV show The O.C., has also expressed doubts about bringing the series back. In a September 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, he questioned whether a revival would be worthwhile, asking if there’s still an audience for it and if the original cast would even be interested in reuniting.

Although Adam, 46, had some doubts about the project’s direction, he acknowledged that “anything could happen.”

Josh, who later helped create Gossip Girl, had previously said a reboot of The O.C. was a bad idea, comparing it unfavorably to a show on The CW.

He explained on the Deadline podcast Crew Call in June 2023 that he and his team worked on the Gossip Girl reboot which aired for a couple of seasons on HBO Max. He noted that Gossip Girl had an established format – an anonymous blogger following the lives of characters in New York – while The O.C. felt more focused on its specific characters.

Josh shared how thankful they are that, even after 20 years, people are still enjoying and discussing the show, adding that they don’t plan to say anything further about it.

A revival of The O.C. doesn’t seem likely, but if you’re feeling nostalgic for early 2000s TV, here are some surprising facts about the show!

Did you know that the popular show could have had a very different name? Creator Josh Schwartz recently shared with Uproxx that he originally planned to call the family ‘Needleman’ instead of ‘Cohen’ when he first wrote the script.

Peter Gallagher was the first actor hired for the show, playing Sandy Cohen, the head of the main family. It’s hard to imagine anyone could say no to those iconic eyebrows!

Schwartz explained they aimed to emphasize that the show focused on both the children and their parents. They cast a well-known and popular actor in a leading role, someone who could bring authenticity and believability to the adult characters and storylines.

Ben McKenzie became the lead, Ryan Atwood, largely thanks to a chain of events involving Brad Pitt. Garrett Hedlund was originally cast in the role, but had to drop out just weeks before filming started. According to creator Josh Schwartz, Hedlund was set to do a studio test, but then landed the movie Troy, making him unavailable.

4. Chad Michael Murray also turned down the show to star on One Tree Hill. 

When casting Marissa Cooper, the show considered both Mischa Barton and Olivia Wilde. Ultimately, Mischa Barton got the part because the creators felt Ryan Atwood needed to be a hero to Marissa, and Olivia Wilde seemed too independent and strong to need rescuing, as explained by creator Josh Schwartz at the ATX TV Festival in 2016.

Despite exploring other options, the producers always intended to feature Wilde and eventually cast her as a love interest for Alex, Seth, and Marissa during the second season.

Initially, Rachel Bilson was only meant to appear briefly in the first episode, with just three lines of dialogue. However, she quickly became a central character, appearing in every episode and becoming a series regular by the middle of the first season. Summer became a key part of the show – definitely a good thing!

Despite Adam Brody becoming famous for playing Seth Cohen, creator Josh Schwartz didn’t initially want to cast him. Schwartz remembered that Brody didn’t bother memorizing lines for his first audition. “I honestly didn’t even know what scene he was doing or if it was from our show,” Schwartz told Uproxx. “I was annoyed and wanted him out of there.” However, after struggling to find the right actor for the part, casting director Patrick Rush convinced Schwartz to give Brody another chance. He returned and delivered a fantastic audition.

According to creator Josh Schwartz, the show’s producers weren’t initially fans of the character Seth Cohen. In fact, Schwartz revealed they didn’t like Seth early in the pilot stage, and he wasn’t even featured on the first promotional posters for the series. This meant the romantic connection between Fox and Seth wasn’t a primary focus from the beginning, despite how viewers perceived it.

9. The infamous “Welcome to the O.C., bitch!” line wasn’t in the original script.

The show played a role in launching the careers of bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Rooney, and even attracted established artists such as U2 and the Beastie Boys who wanted to premiere new music on it. However, Arcade Fire was one band that consistently declined to have their songs featured.

Schwartz often says one of his biggest mistakes on the show was not developing the characters of Luke (Chris Carmack) and Anna (Samaire Armstrong) more. He’s admitted that letting them leave the show so early was a bad decision, and he wishes he’d kept them around longer.

The writers actually considered having certain characters date each other, especially pairings where opposites attract. Creator Schwartz mentioned they frequently discussed potential relationships between Ryan and Anna, Luke and Summer, and even Seth and Marissa, but ultimately decided against pursuing them. It’s fun to think about how different the show could have been!

Following the huge popularity of the first season, Fox approached Schwartz about creating a spin-off series. Initially, they envisioned it centering around the character Anna, but they ultimately decided to concentrate on continuing the original show instead.

A crossover episode between The O.C. and Arrested Development almost happened. Both shows were on Fox and filmed in Southern California, and creator Mitch Hurwitz even discussed having The O.C. actors appear on Arrested Development as themselves. According to The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, the idea was ultimately scrapped because it felt too complicated and self-referential.

Despite Fox’s attempts to keep the season three finale’s big death a secret, the actress who played Marissa, Barton, accidentally revealed it beforehand. She told Access Hollywood that her character had “been through so, so much, and there’s really nothing more left for her to do.” Talk about a spoiler!

Schwartz said the decision to remove the character from the show was tough. He explained to The Daily Beast that it came about due to a combination of factors, including the story’s direction, how well the actors worked together, and viewership numbers.

Did Rachel Bilson want to leave ‘The O.C.’? According to producer Doug Schwartz, Mischa Barton didn’t want to leave any more than the other young actors. He explained that the cast had a complex dynamic, but Barton wasn’t trying to get off the show. Schwartz added that they all had complicated feelings about becoming famous through a teen drama on Fox, as it wasn’t the career path they’d envisioned, which was difficult for them.

Shailene Woodley first played Marissa’s younger sister, Kaitlyn, in the first season. Later, when the character reappeared as a more rebellious teen, Willa Holland took over the role – surprisingly, Holland is only five months older than Woodley in real life.

“Well, she felt older,” Schwartz explained to Uproxx. “Five months is a lifetime at that age.”

The popular show The O.C. nearly ended after its third season. According to creator Josh Schwartz, a change in network leadership almost led to its cancellation. The new president preferred different types of programming, and there was a real possibility there wouldn’t be a fourth season.

There was a time when Dawn Ostroff, who was president of The CW at the time, was very keen on broadcasting a fifth season.

Many popular reality TV shows, including Laguna Beach, The Hills, and The Real Housewives of Orange County, owe their success to the groundwork laid by The O.C.

Schwartz playfully called his unexpected impact on pop culture his “accidental legacy.” He admitted he’d always wanted to be part of the Real Housewives franchise and, while joking, said he was flattered by the reality shows that were inspired by his work. He sees it as a form of compliment – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.

Throughout most of the show’s four seasons, actors Brody and Bilson were a couple, though they split up while filming the last season – the same season their characters tied the knot! Years later, Brody married Leighton Meester, the lead actress from Schwartz’s other popular teen drama, Gossip Girl, creating a dream pairing for fans!

Throughout the entire run of the show, Seth and Ryan only shared a hug twice – once in the very first episode, and again in the final one. It was a sweet moment both times!

Berkeley Law School was a fan of the fictional character Sandy Cohen and even created a “Sandy Cohen Public Defender Fellowship” in his honor.

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2026-02-11 19:51