Mischa Barton Recalls Being a “Strange Sex Symbol” at 13 Years Old – E! Online
Opening up about her fiery O.C. exit was only the beginning. Now Mischa Barton is sharing every last uncomfortable truth about growing up as a child star in the ’90s and early ’00s.
In a personal essay for Harper’s Bazaar U.K., the 35-year-old actress revealed that the past year of quarantine, “has brought a fresh life perspective and prompted me to reflect upon the trauma I have been so scared to speak out about for many years.”
Chief among them, the fact that she felt sexualized even as a young actress. “The truth is that sexuality has always been a component of my career,” Barton wrote. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved being an actress and my work on stage. I felt very grown-up, proud of my work and really committed myself to it, but I was still just a child.”
The London-born, New York-raised actress made her onscreen acting debut at age 9 on a 1995 episode of All My Children. Her movie debut, Lawn Dogs, a fantasy drama that dealt with themes of child molestation, was released just two years later.
Barton wrote in her essay that “while the crew did everything to ensure that I wasn’t exposed to the realities of what all that meant, when I did press for the film, it became clear that it was very mature content.”
