Adam Brody 'kind of a d--k,' bombshells from 'The OC' book

California, here we come. The new book Welcome to the OC: The Oral History is full of bombshells and revelations about the hit show, which made stars out of its young cast, including Adam Brody, Mischa Barton, Ben McKenzie and Rachel Bilson.

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California, here we come. 

The new book “Welcome to the OC: The Oral History” is full of bombshells and revelations about the hit show, which made stars out of its young cast, including Adam Brody, Mischa Barton, Ben McKenzie and Rachel Bilson. 

Written by Rolling Stone TV critic Alan Sepinwall and “The OC”  creator Josh Schwartz and executive producer Stephanie Savage, the book chronicles the show’s rise and fall, as it aired on Fox from 2003 to 2007. 

“The OC” followed teens in a beach community, including troubled Ryan Atwood (McKenzie), comic book nerd Seth Cohen (Brody), party girl Marissa Cooper (Barton) and Seth’s longtime crush, Summer Roberts (Bilson). 

Here are the biggest reveals from the book, which is available wherever books are sold. 

The new oral history book about “The OC.” AP

Adam Brody almost blew it 

Brody, 43, became one of the faces of the show – but he almost lost the role before getting cast. Casting director Patrick Rush confessed that Brody’s first audition was “obnoxious” and “disrespectful” of the material, and Schwartz also commented that his audition “sucked.” Still, they brought Brody back to give it another shot.

“He came back, and actually read the part as written and put some effort into it. And it was amazing,” Savage said.

Brody almost didn’t make it past the audition stage. New York Post

Execs wanted Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde, 39, was on the show in Season 2, as the bisexual Alex Kelly. However, execs preferred her to play Marissa, over Barton. 

Susan Rovner, a Warner Bros. programming executive at the time, shared that she was “Team Olivia” from the jump and didn’t “get” Barton’s appeal. Ultimately, however, the studio let the producers make the final call, which Rovner said was “the right choice.”

Execs liked Olivia Wilde more than Mischa Barton (left). handout

Mischa Barton almost got killed off early

Marissa was eventually killed off in the Season 3 finale. But, she almost got booted off the show sooner. Marissa OD’d in Season 1, in part because Fox wasn’t sure Barton should remain the lead of the show. 

“Fox wanted to have the ability to make a casting change,” Schwartz explained of that plot choice. When Barton “broke out with the public” soon after the show premiered, she remained “safe” on the show for three seasons.

Melinda Clarke, Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, McKenzie, Barton, Bilson and Brody on “The OC.” Capture

They regret killing Marissa

According to the book, Schwartz believed at the time that killing off Marissa at the end of Season 3 was something the show “had to do” for creative and business reasons. But, he said that there are “a lot of dynamics” they could have explored instead. 

Barton said it was a “little bit of a bummer” to be killed off, but also felt it was an “inevitable” end for Marissa, who was “doing too much” as a character. “I think they ran out of places for her to go,” she said. “It was not the best thing in the world, [but] there wasn’t much you could do at that point. It was either she could sail off into the sunset, or die.”

Barton added that the crew was “quite upset” about her exit and it was “pretty emotional” filming her final days due to the “close bonds” she had formed with everyone. 

McKenzie said he remembered Barton being “upset” before shooting the death scene (where Ryan carries Marissa’s dying body away from an exploding car). 

“She was younger, so she was dealing with this whole mess of feelings that we were all dealing with to some degree, but hers were probably even more acute.” 

Barton (left) left the show in Season 3 when Marissa got killed off, which they “regret.”

Barton’s awkward sex scene

Chris Carmack, who played Marissa’s cheating boyfriend Luke, talked about how during his first sex scene with Barton, her mom showed up at the rehearsal, which made for an “uncomfortable” moment. 

But, he came around on it. 

“Good for Mischa’s mom, for looking out for her daughter. I think she deserves some respect for that,” he said. 

Barton’s mom reportedly came to watch her sex scenes. New York Post

Brody as the ‘It’ boy 

When the show launched Brody to fame, Bilson, who was dating him at the time (before he moved on to his now-wife, “Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester), remembered leaving him behind during an appearance on “TRL” because they were being “swarmed by a mass mob” of fans.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen saved her. 

“The Olsen twins rescued me and threw me in their car,” Bilson said. “I left Brody behind because I was so nervous and didn’t know what to do. And they were like, ‘Don’t you need to get your boyfriend?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve got to go get him.’ He was being mobbed.”

Brody recalled a woman “grabbing” him and “hooking up” with him one time, telling him, “Welcome to Hollywood.”

Guest star Paris Hilton kisses Seth (Brody).

The stars were over it

According to the book, by Season 3, there was a “general understanding on set” that Brody and McKenzie had issues with being “grown men” playing high school students.

McKenzie said that the “irony” of Season 3 was that the kids started to want “less” time onscreen, while the adult actors wanted “more” and the show “could not accommodate either of those desires.” He stated that he appreciated the “incredible opportunity” that the show had given him but had a “restlessness” to pursue other projects.

Schwartz noted that people on the show were “not getting along great” by that point and that the “chemistry had soured” between actors.

“We were no longer having fun making the show — myself included,” he said. “And again, I should have sat everybody down, and had individual conversations, and instead I just hid and tried to ride it out.”

McKenzie and Brody.

Brody was ‘kind of a d–k’

Bilson, who dated Brody for the majority of the show’s run before breaking up in 2006, said she knew Brody before the show, and remembered thinking he was “cute and funny” but also “kind of a d–k.” 

Like the other actors, Brody said that he got “bored” of the show by Season 3. He maintained that he was “polite to everyone” and would never “scream and yell” or say “anything f–king mean,” but he said he let his “distaste” for the material show, which he’s “not proud” of.

McKenzie said Brody was “not shy” about his unhappiness and the energy became an “amorphous” thing. “[It was] a challenge, and frustrating.” 

Autumn Reeser, who played Taylor Townsend, said she was “disappointed” by Brody’s behavior and had hoped to find “more camaraderie” with someone she thought of as a “fantastic” actor. 

Brody’s “distaste” for the material began showing in later seasons.

Seth got addicted to weed to explain Brody’s lack of effort 

By Season 3, Brody’s lack of effort was so noticeable that the writers wrote Seth as being addicted to weed — in order to adjust to this shift. 

“Brody just changed his delivery, his investment in it,” Schwartz said. “His style shifted to such a degree that we felt like we needed to account for it creatively.” He added, “It’s the kind of storyline that we would have laughed at in Season 1.”

Seth got addicted to weed in later seasons, to cover for Brody’s lack of effort, according to a new book. FOX

Awkward exes

Summer and Seth get married in the series finale, but Bilson and Brody – who had been a real couple for much of the show’s run – were broken up by then. 

In order to avoid the “bizarre” situation of fake marrying her ex, she asked for Summer’s wedding dress to be something she would “never” wear in real life, she said.

“When you’re that age, you think you’re going to be with that person forever,” she said. “And I remember feeling like, I don’t want to wear something that I would ever wear for my own wedding. That feels weird.”

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