Adam Brody Shares How Much He Enjoys Taking On TV Role Completely Different From His Character On ‘The O.C.’

Even though it’s been more than a decade since The O.C. came to an end after four seasons, the show continues to retain its loyal fanbase. While some fans might never get over the fact that the series ended, there is one person who couldn’t be happier.

Adam Brody rose to fame as the comic-book-loving emo Seth Cohen on the Fox teen-drama. Fans will no doubt remember him as either the guy who pined and eventually won over popular girl Summer Roberts, played by Rachel Bilson, or as the sidekick to Newport Beach’s newest kid from the wrong side of the tracks, Ryan Atwood, played by Ben McKenzie.

However, Brody is all grown up now at 38 and has left his O.C. days behind him in favor of his current role as Nick Talman on StartUp, which sees him in a whole new light, as he now gets to take on the role of a “bad boy”.

“It feels actually really good. It feels good being absolved of being likable, of trying to be likable,” he told US Weekly at his show’s Season 3 premiere at the Tribeca TV Festival on Friday.

The fact that the actor is mostly known for playing the good guy is not lost on him.

“Oftentimes if I’m playing a likable character, and this person’s a hero, we need to constantly root for this person. Sometimes even in writing they’ll do something … a choice that I don’t agree with, and I’ll kind of go, ‘Listen, if you want to like this guy, I don’t think he can do this,” he said.

Adam Brody talks playing a "bad guy" after The O.C.'s Seth Cohen: https://t.co/98zmS4zBRM

— Us Weekly (@usweekly) September 22, 2018

Brody goes on to share what a freeing experience it has been for him to now be able to play a role where “I don’t have to make excuses” for his character’s behavior.

“When I’m free of a person trying to necessarily be the hero, then all of a sudden, it’s like anything is fair game and I don’t have to make excuses … I can just lean [into] … whatever choices that character wants to make.”

The O.C. recently marked 15 years since the first episode debuted in 2003.

Out of respect for devoted fans, the Mr. & Mrs. Smith actor did touch briefly on his role as Seth Cohen and how he believes not even he was completely innocent saying, “I think that even that character is only a hair’s breadth away from making an awful, selfish choice.”

In real life, Brody is anything but a “bad boy”, as he is happily married to Gossip Girl alum, Leighton Meester, who he met when they acted in the indie-drama, The Oranges, together back in 2011. The couple married in 2014 and have a beautiful three-year-old daughter named Arlo. Meester recently opened up about the couple’s marriage, referring to her husband as her “soulmate”.

Fans can catch Adam Brody in StartUp when its third season debuts on the Sony streaming platform, Crackle, on November 1.