Mischa BartonMischa Barton is having to work hard to distance herself from Marissa, her former character in The OC.

Mischa is keen to move into more serious acting roles but has found the ghost of Marissa is haunting her: “People assume I’m from Orange County. Marissa hasn’t seen much outside her bubble, but I like people to discern that I’m an English-Irish girl who grew up in New York and moved around a lot with her dad’s job.”

Mischa is set to take an acting course with RADA (Royal Academy for the Dramatic Arts) in London this summer.