After playing geeky Seth Cohen on the 2003-07 FOX teen series, the comic book fanatic gets his first leading movie role: in In the Land of Women

ON LIFE AFTER THE O.C. I'm still adjusting! It was weird: It was absolutely fantastic for about three weeks, and then I started to get antsy and go, "What do I do with my time?" Now adjustment is taking hold, and I'm reverting back to the old 22-year-old unemployed me [before the show]. I'm just looking for a job—but as an actor, there's not exactly much you can do besides wait.

ON HIS DREAM SUPERHERO ROLE Jon [Kasdan, his Women director] and I would really like to do Green Arrow. We pitched that and I don't think they liked our take. Whateverâ their loss. All I can say is it would've been awesome.

ON HOW HIS DAD HAMPERS HIS LOVE LIFE Five years ago, my dad was in town and I had an audition. I was reading with this cute girl. We were leaving and I said, "I want to ask for her number, so could you get the car and I'll meet you?" She came out and started talking, and my dad pulls up, honks the horn and gives me the thumbs-up. I don't think she called me back.

ON WOMEN COSTAR MEG RYAN It was nice to do a classic romantic comedy walk-and-talk [a bantering scene] with Meg Ryan, because it's her staple. I felt like I was doing a piece of classic cinema: the Meg Ryan walk-and-talk. It's a big deal for me.