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Mischa Barton to guest star in Neighbours

As Ramsay Street embarks on a North American broadcast, it gets an unexpected resident.

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Mischa Barton is set appear as an extended guest star in the revived Neighbours season.

Amazon Prime Video and Network 10 today announced the former O.C. star will play announced a new character will play Reece, an American new to Erinsborough who’s not quite who she appears to be.

The stunt casting appears to be part of a strategy to attract new viewers in new markets.

Executive producer, Jason Herbison said: “With Neighbours launching on Amazon Freevee in North America, we are beyond excited to have an actor of Mischa’s calibre join us for the beginning of this exciting new chapter. Mischa’s character is dynamic and unpredictable, and will have an instant presence on Ramsay Street. Our loyal viewers are going to love her, locally and abroad.”

British-American Barton’s other credits include The Sixth Sense, Notting Hill, The Hills: New Beginnings and The Beautiful Life.

Barton said, “I’m excited to be part of this iconic show’s next chapter, and I am really looking forward to being back in Australia a place I know and love! I think the character of Reece is going to be a great role for me to explore and play with.”

Filming restarted in Melbourne yesterday and will return to screens on Network 10 later this year followed by Prime Video a week ago.

22 Responses

    1. I doubt she will be *that* costly. Her star mostly faded after The O.C., and she departed the show nearly 17 years ago.

      She hasn’t had any major roles (or pull) since, and has been reduced to appearing on “reality” shows in recent years.

  2. The show is going to sparkle with Amazon Prime money. I feel the writing will drastically improve as will the visuals. It will have to be a faster bigger soap if there is any chance of it catching on on the USA. 10 had better put this on their main channel. 6pm works for me.

  3. Barton was born in England but her family moved to NY when she was 5. She was a successful child actor on stage, tv and film. She became a major celebrity during her time on OC, which lead to her being mercilessly hounded by tabloid media over sex and drug stories. She retreated from the limelight and has since appeared in many low budget films. As Amazon are targeting the US, UK, NZ and Australian markets with Neighbours where she is still a well known actress with soap opera experience, she’s good choice as a guest star to relaunch it.

  4. Christie Whelan Browne mentioned on the Neighbuzz Podcast that Neighbours were working on hiring Mischa in 2019 for Paul and Terese’s Vegas wedding storyline.

  5. Reality check – this is not your all Australian Tim Tams Neighbours, made for locals and British admirers.

    This is Amazon Neighbours, which also includes USA as its target market – so no references to curtains or nappies in this version.

    And one of the ways they will sell it to the USA is with American names .

      1. True.
        But the majority of her credits are American

        In the same way Julia Zemiro was born in France, but the majority of her credits are Australian.

  8. “Reece” isn’t what she appears to be as she is really the late Marissa Cooper, now romantically involved with her one-time stepfather Caleb Nichol, who will be revealed as the long-lost identical twin brother of Jim Robinson.

    All this and more in Neighbours vs. Zombies 2.

  9. When Neighbours started on Ten, there seemed to be stories in TV Week every week about the new cast members. It was a great way to create interest. I wondered if they would do something similar and it seems like they are.

  11. “Erinsborough, here we cooooome” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it

    Nevertheless, exciting news and will sure to make fans excited even more excited for the return.

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