Top 10 Stars You Forgot Appeared on The O.C.

You probably recognize Lucy Hale from her seven-season run as Aria Montgomery on the hit teen drama series “Pretty Little Liars”. Once upon a time however, she made a one-episode appearance in season 3 of “The O.C.”. Hale played Hadley Hawthorne, Kaitlin Cooper’s boarding school roommate who big sister Marissa shares a couple of scenes with. Hale manages to turn an otherwise minor character into a mini scene-stealer. Ironically enough, Hale wasn’t the only “Pretty Little Liars” cast member to appear on the show, as Ashley Benson had a small role in season 4.

Remember back when the “The O.C.” was just a show about a kid from Chino trying to fit in with the upper class rich kids of Orange County? If so then you’ll probably remember Donnie, Ryan’s work friend who shows up to a party and ends up (accidentally) shooting Luke in the arm. Well, as it turns out, Donnie was played by future “Vampire Diaries” heartthrob Paul Wesley. Donnie rocked a forearm sweatband – a fashion staple of the early 2000s – and broke a ton of stuff before being subdued by Ryan. It may have been brief, but it was definitely one of the more dramatic encounters from season one!

While all of the other actors on this list played a character during their time on “The O.C.”, legendary director and “Star Wars” creator George Lucas had the honor of playing himself. “The O.C.” version of Lucas was apparently very interested in a graphic novel Seth was working on. What makes this entry particularly strange is that Lucas has only made a few cameo appearances in his career (though he did make one in “Revenge of the Sith”) so it makes us wonder why he chose a teen drama, but it’s still pretty cool.

Fans of “Entourage” will instantly recognize Chriqui as Sloan McQuewick, E’s on again off again girlfriend. The Canadian actress has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows over the years, including as you may have already guessed, “The O.C.”! Chriqui turned up in a two-episode arc where she played Jodie, Alex’s ex-girlfriend. Her arrival was actually what spurred Alex and Seth to break up- which was probably for the best. Chriqui landed the role of Sloan soon after, so it’s entirely possible her time on “The O.C.” helped her get the part.

This actress has appeared in a number of films and televisions shows throughout her career, including a starring role in the cult hit “Firefly” and her star-making turn as Vanessa Carlysle in “Deadpool”. However, an early acting gig was actually a three episode arc on “The O.C.” in which she played Maya Griffin, daughter of Henry Griffin, a corrupt Hospital Board member who Sandy has conflict with in season three. The role wasn’t exactly what you’d call a “breakthrough”, but it must have looked good on Baccarin’s resume!

Long before she found mainstream success with roles in films like “The Rum Diary” and “Magic Mike XXL” Amber Heard was just another actress trying to make it in Hollywood. One of her earliest roles came in a 2005 episode of “The O.C.”. Heard played “salesgirl”, which should give an indication of how little time she actually spent on set. Lucky for her though, Heard got to share her brief screen time with the show’s four biggest stars, so yeah, we’re pretty jealous.

Before the world knew him as the uptight ladies man Schmidt on the hit Fox TV series “New Girl”, Max Greenfield was bouncing from TV show to TV show in search of a permanent gig. One of his earliest spots was a one-episode appearance on “The O.C.”. Greenfield played young Sandy Cohen in a brief flashback sequence that had him handing out political pamphlets and attempting to woo his future wife, Kirsten. We’re betting that Greenfield got the part due to his uncanny resemblance to actor Peter Gallagher who plays Sandy.

Olivia Wilde’s time on “The O.C.” was not without controversy. Her first appearance was in the season two episode “The New Kids on the Block”, and while she started off as one of Seth’s love interests she would later start dating Marissa. While they shared a number of great scenes together, the relationship could never last so long as Ryan was still in the picture. Wilde, who has around 50 film and TV credits to her name, lasted 13 episodes before the writers decided they’d seen enough of the bad girl Bait Shop manager.

If you don’t remember this actress’s time on “The O.C.” we don’t blame you. Woodley appeared in six episodes of season one and played Marissa’s younger sister Kaitlin. Her role was minor, and she had few interactions with the other characters. Kaitlin was sent to boarding school at the end of the season and didn’t reappear until season three, at which time actress Willa Holland replaced Woodley in the role. Not to worry, the Golden Globe nominee would soon find mainstream success with roles in films like “The Fault in Our Stars” and the “Divergent” franchise.
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Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Bella Thorne
Nikki Reed
Colin Hanks

Our number one pick would eventually surpass even the show’s biggest stars in terms of Hollywood success. Pratt appeared in nine episodes of season four and played Che Cook, a friend of Summer’s from Brown who most notably sang Seth a song while completely nude. He may have done more than that (including introducing Seth to his spirit animal), but that’s the scene we remember the most. Che turned out to be a pretty important character in season four, with Pratt’s performance showing hints of his soon to be lauded comedic range. Nowadays Pratt’s name leads a franchise worth more than a billion dollars… so yeah, he’s doing all right.