Beyond Newport: A Look At 15 Guest Stars From The OC Who Made It Big
Has it really been over a decade since Newport's preppy dirtbag Luke Ward uttered the phrase, "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!"? It really has. Oof. The O.C. premiered in August 2003 on Fox and became an immediate addiction for some of us, thanks to the music, the melodrama, and of course, The Nana. A lot can happen in 10 years, which is why, when we were checking out some old episodes recently, we realized that the series has a huge share of guest stars who went on to become the next big thing.
Olivia Wilde. Chris Pratt. Shailene Woodley. They were all welcomed into the O.C. as bit players and now they're A-listers with extensive credits to their names, outshining even Mischa Barton, Adam Brody and Ben McKenzie. Check out our list of 15 O.C. guest stars who went on to have amazing careers in our gallery below. And keep an eye out for, oh, half the cast of Twilight. California, here we coooome!
Chris Carmack
Chris played Luke Ward on The O.C. for a season and some change. He's now known for his role as Will Lexington on Nashville.
Jackson Rathbone
Before he played Jasper in the Twilight saga, Jackson was on The O.C. for two episodes as Justin, Kaitlin's ex from boarding school.
Autumn Reeser
Prior to acting in hit shows like Entourage and Hawaii Five-0, Autumn played Taylor Townsend on The O.C. for two seasons.
Emmanuelle Chriqui
She's now known for her roles in Entourage and the Hulu original series Shut Eye, but don't forget Emmanuelle's two-episode stint on The O.C. as Jodie, Alex Kelly's ex-girlfriend.
Morena Baccarin
She played Maya Griffin for three episodes, which pales in comparison to her Emmy-nominated role in Homeland.
Chris Brown
Back in his "Forever" days, he played bank geek Will Tutt for three episodes on The O.C.. Now, Chris Brown pretty much sticks to music.
Eric Mabius
About a year before he started winning our hearts on Ugly Betty, Eric played Dean Jack Hess on The O.C. for four episodes.
Shailene Woodley
Divergent star Shailene Woodley is now a household name, but before even her Secret Life of the American Teenager years, she played pre-boarding school Kaitlin Cooper on The O.C..
Nikki Reed
She may be known for her role as Rosalie Hale in the Twlight saga, but don't forget the time she played Johnny Harper's cousin Sadie on The O.C..
Chris Pratt
He was everyone's favorite teddy bear on Parks and Recreation and seems to be in every other blockbuster these days, but before all of that, Chris Pratt played a left-wing activist named Ché on The O.C..
Amanda Righetti
Best known for her role as Grace Van Pelt on The Mentalist, Amanda spent her earlier years playing Hailey Nichol on The O.C..
Cam Gigandet
Cam's another Twlight alum who landed a role on The O.C. back in the day, playing Kevin Volchok.
Olivia Wilde
No one could forget Oliva Wilde's face or acting abilities after she played Thirteen the TV show House. Before then, though, she helped give bisexuality more of a space on the small screen with her role as Alex Kelly on The O.C.
Willa Holland
While now we associate Willa with her role as Thea Queen on Arrow, she beat Shailene Woodley out of her own role as post-boarding school Kaitlin Cooper back in the day.
Samaire Armstrong
She played Anna Stern on The O.C. over the course of a few seasons. You can catch her making guest appearances in shows like Grey's Anatomy and NCIS: New Orleans now.
[Photos: Fox]