List of The O.C. characters


The O.C. is an American television series created by Josh Schwartz for the FOX network in 2003. Schwartz serves as executive producer while also writing and directing for the show, including the premieres and finales of all seasons.
The show began with seven main characters which eventually became nine by the end of the first season. Since then, characters from the first season have left the show, with new main characters having been both written in and out of the series. Originally, it follows the life of Ryan Atwood, a troubled but tough young man from a broken home who is adopted by the wealthy and philanthropic Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. Ryan and his surrogate brother Seth, a socially awkward yet quick-witted teenager, deal with life as outsiders in the high-class world of Newport Beach. Ryan and Seth spend much time navigating their relationships with girl-next-door Marissa Cooper and Seth's childhood crush Summer Roberts.

Cast timeline

;Cast notes

Main characters

Sandy Cohen

Portrayed by Peter Gallagher, an idealistic public defender who takes in Ryan Atwood in the pilot episode, much to the dismay of his wife, Kirsten. He is the husband of Kirsten, the father of Seth Cohen, and the legal guardian of Ryan Atwood. Although he lives in a large upper-class house, his politics are left-leaning and open-minded, causing friction between himself and the community. Peter Gallagher described the character as a "leftie Jewish guy from the Bronx". Sandy deals with many conflicts throughout the series, such as trying to gain acceptance from his father-in-law while being financially supported by his wife, and raising two teenagers in a corrupt environment.

Kirsten Cohen

Portrayed by Kelly Rowan, she is the wife of Sandy Cohen, the mother of Seth, adoptive mother of Ryan, and former CFO of her father's real estate company, the Newport Group. Before she met Sandy she dated and grew up with Jimmy Cooper father of Marissa Cooper, with whom she remains friends. Kirsten was very suspicious of Sandy's decision to bring Ryan into her home in the pilot episode, but in the third episode, she and Seth take Ryan back home after he is beaten in the juvenile detention center. By the end of the episode, Ryan's biological mother, Dawn Atwood, asks Kirsten to adopt Ryan, figuring he is better off in Newport than returning to Chino. She has had trouble with alcohol, which was triggered by the failing deteriorating relationship between her and her father, and had an abortion early in her life, which belonged to Jimmy. Kirsten continues to open a dating service with Julie, and becomes a mother of three at the end of the fourth season. The character's politics and lifestyle are more conservative than her husband's. Kelly Rowan described the character as seemingly more "together" than herself during an interview.

Ryan Atwood

Portrayed by Ben McKenzie, a troubled teenager from Chino who is brought into the privileged community of Newport Beach, California after his mother, Dawn Atwood, throws him out of their family home. Ryan is subsequently taken in by his public defender, Sandy Cohen. He forms fast bonds with the entire Cohen family, especially Sandy's son Seth, as well as an extreme attachment to the girl next door, Marissa Cooper. Ryan slowly finds himself a place within his new materialistic society, and makes of the most of his situation by not only completing high school, but also continuing on to university. Casting director Patrick Rush found the role of Ryan Atwood particularly hard to cast and only invited Ben McKenzie to an audition after Fox had made them aware of the young actor after his unsuccessful audition for a UPN sitcom. Rush said, "When Benjamin came in, he wasn't physically what Josh had envisioned, but he inhabited the character unlike anyone we had seen. I think that the character of Ryan is a kid that always seems a little lost and has a sense of mystery and danger; Benjamin has all those qualities." Chad Michael Murray was originally offered the role of Ryan Atwood but turned it down for the lead role of Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill.

Marissa Cooper

Portrayed by Mischa Barton, throughout the series Marissa is frequently battling with drugs and alcohol, including nearly killing herself on a trip in Mexico with her friends. Marissa's relationships with her parents, boyfriends, and classmates are often tumultuous. She is Summer's best friend and Ryan's on-and-off love interest. Marissa is portrayed as a "spoiled girl who adjusts to being poor". The casting director referred to Marissa as "a girl stuck in the trappings of her life who seemed older than her actual age." Mischa Barton left the series at the end of season three when her character was subsequently written off by being killed in a car accident. Commenting on her departure, Barton said, "My character has been through so, so much and there's really nothing more left for her to do."

Seth Cohen

Portrayed by Adam Brody, the awkward adolescent son of Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. He is known for his quick quips, comic book fascination, and pop-culture references. He is also the love interest of Summer Roberts, on whom he had a crush on since third grade. Seth has been called a "Jewish nerd into obscure emo bands", who "starts dating a gorgeous, popular virgin." The New York Times characterised Seth as "eccentric and literate, Seth professes actual wanderlust The show's press materials maintain that he's an existential hero along the lines of Holden Caulfield." Adam Brody's portrayal of Seth was well received and is considered one of the overall highlights of the series.

Luke Ward

Portrayed by Chris Carmack, Marissa's first boyfriend and regular cast member for most of the first season. Luke is initially the main antagonist of the series, coining the series famous "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!" line during a fight with Ryan in the premiere episode. However, he later becomes the main "comic punching bag" for the other characters after he and Ryan are begrudgingly paired together for a school project. They bond over cars when Luke takes him to his father's dealership to see the latest sports car models but catch Luke's father Carson kissing another man. When his father comes out, the once popular Luke falls out of favor with his clique and finds himself on the bottom of the social ladder for the first time. Ryan, Seth and Marissa then take him in as one of their own.
After that, Luke becomes a member of the group, more friendly and carefree than he had been earlier, becoming known for his lovable goofiness and love of beer. Josh Schwartz characterised the later Luke as "strumming a guitar being a goofball".

Jimmy Cooper

Portrayed by Tate Donovan, Marissa and Kaitlin's father. He gets in trouble for embezzlement and must face the consequences of his actions and its effect on his reputation and personal life. After his divorce from Julie, he pursues Hayley Nichol, Kirsten's younger sister, who eventually leaves him to further her fashion career in Japan. He was a regular cast member for Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2. Jimmy's character made a brief appearance on season 3, but was quickly left when Jimmy is forced to leave town, the morning of his wedding to Julie, due to money problems. One interviewer characterised Jimmy as a "lovable deadbeat dad". Josh Schwartz has referred to the character as a "cat" in the DVD commentaries. The character is portrayed as flighty and perpetually in financial debt, despite warm relationships with his daughters. The character was ranked eighth by Entertainment Weekly on a list of the worst dads in television history.

Julie Cooper-Nichol

Portrayed by Melinda Clarke, the mother of Kaitlin Cooper and Marissa Cooper. At the beginning of the show she is married to financial planner Jimmy Cooper. She is often characterised as being devious, selfish, and shallow. However, she reveals a more vulnerable and empathetic part of herself a number of times during the series. Melinda Clarke summarised her character as being "clearly just such a money-digging whore. To me, it's so funny now to see The Real Housewives of Orange County because you realise it exists and that's what Julie was. Julie was obviously the original housewife." Melinda went on to commend the character's "incredible arc," saying that Julie started as "this woman who was so superficial but, of course, she's not just one-dimensional, she's multi-dimensional. Starting in her pink Juicy sweat suit outfit and then by the end she's graduated from college and moving on with her life. She's a survivor."

Summer Roberts

Portrayed by Rachel Bilson, Summer is, throughout the first few episodes, portrayed as a shallow, materialistic gossip who is ditzy and can have an occasional bitchy nature. Spoiled by her divorced father, she considers him to be her best friend, and his opinion matters as much, if not more than her own. Summer was unusual in combining the qualities of a conventionally attractive and desirable character with a tough, outspoken, "take-charge" attitude. She is portrayed as highly sexualised and initially appears stupid; later she undergoes something of a transformation and becomes far more intelligent and concerned about environmental issues, a change possibly due to her relationship with the geeky Seth Cohen. Initially Summer was only intended as a small supporting character, only there as an object of fantasy for Seth and a friend for Marissa Cooper, while Ryan Atwood and Marissa were the lead couple. However, due to Bilson's performance, Summer became an increasingly important character.

Caleb Nichol

Portrayed by Alan Dale, Kirsten's businessman father and later Julie Cooper's husband. His character recurs throughout the first season, and he becomes a regular during the second season, but comes to a sudden stop when his character suffers from a fatal heart attack during the season 2 finale. The Chicago Tribune characterised Caleb as a "gruff, uncompromising Newport Beach, Calif., real-estate developer". When asked by the Tribune about the character, Dale said, "The thing that's lovely about this character is that there's so much to do with him. His relationships are so complicated, and once the marriage happened, everyone was related in the show. That means he's got all these people to relate to, and he relates so badly with everyone."