At the beginning of the 21st century, there was perhaps no other teen show with as much frenzy surrounding it as The O.C. Not only was The O.C. amazing for its epic characters and drama, it also gave some of our biggest stars their first major taste of the entertainment industry. From some Pretty Little Liars, to a slew of vampires, here are 20 huge stars you forgot were on The O.C. “California here we come, right back where we started from.”
Chris Pratt - Che Cook
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Paul Wesley - Donnie
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Before
Paul Wesley was all broody and smoldering as Stefan Salvatore on
The Vampire Diaries, he was kind of a nut-job on
The O.C. Wesley had a quick stint in Newport as a bad boy coworker of Ryan's, who actually ends up shooting Luke in the arm. Now we all know that Luke was a major douche, but even he did not deserve that.
Amber Heard - A Salesgirl
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Before she was a movie star, and way before she became Mrs.
Johnny Depp,
Amber Heard played a bitchy sales girl in the second season of
The O.C. Heard's character was so rude, that even Seth Cohen gave her the stank eye.
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Morena Baccarin - Maya Griffin
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Yes,
Homeland's Mrs. Brody was on
The O.C. for three episodes in the third season. Though her character was not all that memorable, you might be interested to know that
Morena Baccarin and
Benjamin McKenzie are actually now a couple and they are expecting their first child together. Baccarian currently plays Dr. Leslie Thompkins on
FOX's Gotham with McKenzie. Crazy world right?!
Jeffrey Dean Morgan - A Prisoner
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Around the same time,
Jeffrey Dean Morgan was breaking our hearts on
Grey's Anatomy, he was also playing an arrogant prisoner on
The O.C. We definitely liked him better as Denny.
Jamie King - Spring Break Girl
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Though she eventually joined
Rachel Bilson on
The CW's Hart of Dixie, Jamie King played a religious girl with a wild streak who had a major thing for Seth on
The O.C. We think that if Seth Cohen licked whipped cream off of our body, we might feel a certain way about him as well.
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Shailene Woodley - Kaitlin Cooper
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Before she spoke to our melinnial souls on
ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and well before she was kicking ass in the
Divergent trilogy,
Shailene Woodley starred in the first several episodes of
The O.C. as Marissa's annoying little sister Kaitlin. Afterward, Kaitlin disappeared from the show from several seasons (apparently off to boarding school), and though Woodley auditioned again when the writers decided to bring her character back, they went with actress
Willa Holland instead. We doubt Woodley is terribly torn up about this.
Jackson Rathbone - Kaitlin’s Ex-boyfriend
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When Kaitlin Cooper returned to
The O.C. she got her own story-lines, friends and love life.
Jackson Rathbone whom we all know as Jasper from the
Twilight saga, starred as Kaitlin's random ex-boyfriend who comes sniffing around in hopes of trying to find her again.
Lucy Hale - Kaitlin's BFF
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Chris Carmack - Luke Ward
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If you remember the iconic line "Welcome to The O.C. bitch", then you certainly remember
Chris Carmack as Luke Ward. Though Luke only lasted one season, he's one character from
The O.C. that we could never forget. Cormack certainly hasn't stopped shining since then, he currently plays a closeted country heartthrob on
ABC's Nashville.
Nikki Reed - Sadie
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Before she was a sultry vampire in the
Twilight franchise, and well before she became
Ian Somerhalder's wifey,
Nikki Reed starred as Sadie, Ryan's love interest on
The O.C. Sadie was super cool and down to earth, but unfortunately Ryan was only rebounding after his breakout with Marissa.
Chris Brown - Will Tutt
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So.... before we knew what
Chris Brown post-2009 would become, the R&B singer played the super cute and nerdy band geek Will Tut. This was in the final season of
The O.C. and though Brown only had a 3 episode arc, he befriended and eventually became a love interest for Kaitlin Cooper. Is your mind blown yet?
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Cam Gigandet - Kevin Volchok
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Who could forget the sexiest
Twilight vampire ever?
Cam Gigandet starred as Kevin Volchok, the guy who helped lead Marissa to her death. Volchok was all kinds of naughty. He was hands down one of the most memorable guest stars on
The O.C.
Max Greenfield - Young Sandy Cohen
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Before he was our adorable Schmidt on
New Girl,
Max Greenfield had the honor of playing a young Sandy Cohen In a flashback episode during the third season of the series. We got to see just how Sandy and Kirstin met at Berkley, and it was all kinds of cute.
Olivia Wilde - Alex Kelly
FOX/Splash News
Before
Olivia Wilde became a household name after starring on
House, she was simply known as the woman who kissed
Mischa Barton on
The O.C. Alex was initially seen as a love interest for Seth, but she randomly ended up getting romantically entangled with Marissa. If you know anything about
The O.C. and Marissa's drama, then you probably know this did not last long.
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AnnaLynne McCord - Party Girl
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Before her days on
The CW's 90210,
AnnaLynne McCord was already living it up in SoCal. Though she was only onscreen for a short time, McCord caused a lot of chaos as the girl who hooked up with Kevin Volchok during Marissa's prom. They kept it really classy on
The O.C.
Colin Hanks - Soap Opera Star
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Going back now, you might not even recognize
Colin Hanks on
The O.C. because his haircut was so abysmal. Hanks played a soap opera star from the fictional show
The Valley. Luckily Hanks' hair was totally under control when he starred on
Fargo.
Paris Hilton - Club Girl
FOX/Splash News
So, ironically (or maybe not so ironically)
Paris Hilton played a version of herself on
The O.C. The version that was in grad school and loved to party. During Hilson's highly promoted guest spot, she accosted Seth Cohen on the dance floor, stole a smooch and even took a selfie with a flip phone. It was all very 2003.
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Bella Thorne - Young Taylor Townsend
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How cute was
Bella Thorne as a young Taylor Townsend? In a flashback episode during the fourth season of the series, Throne appeared as an impressionable Taylor who gets an invite to Summer's bday bash after letting Summer copy her homework.
Logan Marshall-Green - Trey Atwood
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We know that you totally forgot about Ryan's horrid older brother Trey and all of the drama that he got Ryan into. We didn't necessarily want him to die, but we weren't mad when Marissa shot him either. Luckily,
Logan Marshall-Green seems like a lot more fun than Trey.