FOUR new teen
icons- to-be have joined the second season of the runaway Fox hit,
"The O.C."
The new crew will include a "yard
boy" DJ (Nicholas Gonzales, 28) who producers hint might have
a fling with Marissa, the character played by "O.C." star
Mischa Barton.
"Marissa spent the
summer by herself, drinking and lonely," series creator
Josh Schwartz said yesterday during a conference call with
reporters to promote the new season, starting Nov. 4.
Other newbies include Michael Cassidy, 21, as Zach, a waspy
jock who's the son of a congressman; Shannon Lucio, 24,
as brainiac Lindsay; and native New Yorker Olivia Wilde,
20, as Alex, who runs The Bait Shop, a new rock club/hang
out.
Schwartz says that The Bait Shop will feature
performances by up-and-coming bands.
According to Schwartz, his portrayal of rich
kids living in an exclusive Southern California community has turned
out to be pretty close to the real thing.
"I watched the first episode of 'Laguna
Beach,' the MTV reality series [about kids from the real Orange
Country] and we're pretty close," he says.
Schwartz added that Linda Lavin will be making
another guest appearance as a Jewish grandmother called The Nana.
