“California, here we come, right back where we started from,” sang Phantom Planet in the theme song of the teenage-classic Fox series, The O.C. , which ran for four seasons from 2003-2007. As the show turned 15-years-old on Sunday, Rachel Bilson, who rose to fame as Summer Roberts, shared a throwback photo of herself and some of the cast, per People .
The O.C. told the story of a group of people living the good life in Orange County, California. The arrival of outsider, Ryan Atwood, played by Ben McKenzie, shakes up the extremely wealthy community of Newport Beach as he is taken in by Sandy Cohen, played by Peter Gallagher, and his wife Kirsten, played by Kelly Rowan.
Throughout the series, Ryan, along with his best friend and sidekick, Seth Cohen, played by Adam Brody, tackled the ups and downs of high school and falling in love. For Ryan, it was girl-next-door Marissa Cooper, played by Mischa Barton, and for Seth, it was always Summer.
While the first season of The O.C. was a success in ratings, the following seasons were not, which led Fox to ultimately decide to cancel the show after only four seasons. The death of Barton’s character in the Season 3 finale didn’t help with the already declining viewership.
Bilson captioned the throwback photo on her Instagram , “15 year anniversary of The OC. I can’t believe it. I also can’t believe I wore a skirt I got at a thrift shop as a shirt,” along with multiple hashtags including, “#ifeelold”.
The Jumper actress, 36, recently opened up to People about working on the show, which she described as being a “special time” in her life.
“It was such a special time. The characters were really well thought out and there was so much chemistry between everyone.”
Bilson also revisited some of her most memorable moments on the show, including getting to act alongside Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom actor, Chris Pratt, who played Che in the final season of the series.
“I laughed so hard with Chris Pratt. I remember laughing my a– off. He’s seriously the funniest person I’ve ever come across,” she said.
However, if fans had to pick their favorite Summer Roberts scene, there’s a good chance it would the Season 2 episode titled, “The Rainy Day Women”, which saw Summer and Seth do their own iconic rendition of the up-side down kiss from Spider-Man in the pouring rain.
As for Bilson’s thoughts?
“That was a fun one,” she admitted. “Even now, there are moments from the show that I look back on and I’m like, ‘That was really cool!” she added.
Fans might remember that she and Brody, 38, dated in real life for two years before splitting in 2006. The Hart of Dixie alum went on to fall in love with Jumper co-star, Hayden Christensen, and while they are no longer together, they share daughter Briar Rose, 3.
Brody on the other hand found love with Gossip Girl alum, Leighton Meester, after the two co-starred in the 2011 indie-drama, The Oranges . The two are now married and also have a three-year-old daughter, Arlo Day.
In the age of reboots, Bilson admitted in 2017 that she would be open to playing Summer once again if The O.C. were to make a comeback.
“I’m always open to things. I don’t know what it would look like with our characters being old now. We were riding skateboards on the pier; I don’t know what they do now as 30 year olds. But it would be nice to see everybody again,” she stated.