Marissa Cooper, watch
your back. "The new girl wants your guy.
Actress
Nikki Reed, who at 13 wrote herself the plum part of a seductive
drug-abusing saboteur in the acclaimed 2003 art-house film "Thirteen,"
joins the Fox drama tonight (9 p.m.) for at least six episodes as
Sadie Campbell.
Her arrival
is triggered by the death of another character, and her first
scene is with Mischa Barton's Marissa. But Sadie's mourning
is short-lived, and in no time at all she has Marissa's boyfriend
Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) helping her move into her new home.
During her first month of shooting,
Reed has bonded most closely with McKenzie. "I love him,"
the 18-year-old coos while indulging in sweets at a Sunset Boulevard
cafe.
She also has become a mentor of sorts
to the show's other new girl, Willa Holland, 14, who plays Barton's
kid sis, Kaitlin. "Her maturity reminds me of myself."
A frequent
guest at the home of "O.C." on/off-screen lovers Rachel
Bilson (Summer) and Adam Brody (Seth), Reed likens their romance to
her own relationship with her actor boyfriend of two years, Victor
Rasuk, 22.
"It's
the same thing with Adam and Rachel. They get to work together and
be together," notes Reed, relieved that her 18th birthday "finally"
has allowed her the freedom to publicly discuss her love for Rasuk,
who played her brother in the 2005 skateboarding drama "Lords
of Dogtown.""Working together is fun, but it can make or
break your relationship."
The one cast member Reed has yet to connect
with: Barton. She suspects their on-screen rivalry may be spilling
over into real life. "Our scenes are odd," she explains.
"Mischa and I are not supposed to get along too well (on screen).
I think her character might be a little bit threatened by me. So
we'll have to see what happens when the show wraps. I don't go onto
jobs hoping to add people to my life."
Reed's simple fashion sense singles her out
from the pack. She prefers flip-flops to fancy Jimmy Choos. That's
why she was so intrigued when producers from the show pitched Sadie
as this hippie girl from Oregon who makes jewelry and wears little
makeup, the actress says.
But with "The O.C." being a Fox show,
Reed was confronted with makeup artists and costume designers intent
on glamming up the bohemian character. The resulting Sadie seen
in later episodes, Reed says, is "far from what I was originally
pitched."
She suspects Barton may be behind Sadie's transformation.
"Who can compete with Mischa?" Reed says. "She's
very beautiful and charismatic and is the star of that show. I think
they feared fans might say, 'If (McKenzie's Ryan) is going to leave
Mischa, it better be for someone who can give Mischa a run for her
money."
But Reed has little interest in trying to give
her designer-clad co-stars a run for their money in the pages of
celebrity magazines. "I think they know my vibe is different
from theirs," says Reed, who grew up poor in Venice, Calif.
"For me, it's all about giving back."
