What’s Mischa Barton Up to Now?

It's the question on all of our minds: What's Mischa Barton up to now?

It’s been more than five years since The O.C. sailed off into the California sunset, and while stars of the series like Benjamin McKenzie and Rachel Bilson are enjoying success on their own shows, Mischa Barton has had a more tumultuous time of it.

There was that time in 2007 when she was arrested for driving under the influence and without a license. And there was that time in 2009 when she was confined to psychiatric care after she apparently fought with nurses amidst a tooth infection.

She hasn’t even had a lot of high-profile romances, unless you count her rumored dalliance with Josh Hartnett. (And where is he these days?)

And her professional life hasn’t exactly soared, either. Anyone remember The Beautiful Life? The CW modelling drama lasted two episodes before falling off the primetime catwalk.

But our girl Mischa could be on the brink of a comeback.

She has two movies in production: Bhopal: Prayer for Rain, a historical drama about the real-life industrial disaster; and horror flick The Sibling.

She also stars in Cyberstalker, a television movie premiering on Lifetime Movie Network on September 21, about a woman whose online stalker kills her parents and returns to terrorize her 13 years later.

If you’re noticing that many of her recent films are horror flicks, there’s a reason. “I literally became obsessed with that genre,” she tells TWELV Magazine. But she’s eager to branch out, adding, “I think I’ve gone through my little phase, for the moment.”

Her new phase might be theater: Mischa recently tread the boards in an Irish production of the play Steel Magnolias, inheriting the tragic part Julia Roberts made famous in the 1989 big-screen adaptation.

She also thinks highly of her sartorial sense, having launched a website peddling her line of clothing and beauty products, called Mischa’s Place.

To top it off, Mischa is involved in many charitable causes, raising awareness of issues like global warming, skin health, textile recycling, children’s rights, water supplies in Africa, and lupus.

Sounds like Mischa has a bumper crop of projects this year. With the right career trajectory, we have no doubt that Entertainment Weekly’s 2003 “It Girl” could transcend her teen-drama past and become an acclaimed actress, designer, and philanthropist in her own right.

We’re rooting for you, M!

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