2005

April

Italy in the Spring

Barton heads to Italy to film the period drama Virgin Territory (originally called The Decameron) with Hayden Christensen. They play a nobleman and noblewoman who escape plague-ravaged Florence and tell each other stories to distract themselves from the devastation.

Mischa Barton

November

Smitten With a Singer

Now 19, Barton begins dating Whitestarr singer Cisco Adler, who is 8 years her senior. The two spend their first Christmas together, snowboarding and skiing in the Colorado Rockies. In May 2006, Adler says that none of the songs on his new album are about Barton because their relationship is going too well. "When you're really happy, you're too busy being happy to write about it," he tells PEOPLE. "I'm happy and Mischa's great."

2006

February 22

Trouble in Paris-dise?

Stories circulate that Barton is at odds with Hilton, reportedly because Barton wouldn't turn her back on Hilton's then ex-friend Nicole Richie. Perhaps adding insult to injury, Barton broke up with Hilton's pal Brandon Davis and began dating Adler, an ex of Hilton's friend Kimberly Stewart.

Mischa Barton

May 18

Leaving The O.C.

Barton's The O.C. character dies in a fatal car crash. Executive producer Josh Schwartz says the purpose of killing off Marissa Cooper was to allow a repositioning of the storyline. Barton heads to Toronto to shoot Closing the Ring and spends the summer studying at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. "I really think it's best to do movies now," Barton, who shoots more than three films back-to-back, tells Newsweek.

2007

February

Barton & Adler Split

Weeks after her 21st birthday, Barton and Adler split. The breakup comes after a nude photo of Adler turned up on a website displaying items from Paris Hilton's storage unit. "Mischa wasn't too excited, to say the least," Adler tells the New York Observer. "I think it was actually worse for her than for me in some ways." Barton's publicist says the pair "parted ways to concentrate on their careers."

Mischa Barton

December

Mischa's Back – on Maxim

Having kept a relatively low profile for the past year, Barton, who will appear in three upcoming films (St. Trinian's, Virgin Territory, and Closing the Ring), poses for the January cover of Maxim. She discusses her bustling transition to film and leaving her The O.C. character behind in a gruesome send-off: "You have no idea how much fun I had doing that [scene]. I was on the set, yelling, "More blood! More blood!"...She needed to go out with a bang."

Mischa Barton

December 27

Barton Arrested for DUI

Barton is pulled over at 2:46 a.m. after her vehicle is seen straddling two lanes of traffic and she fails to signal when making a turn. The 21-year-old actress is arrested in West Hollywood for DUI and driving without a valid license. After posting $10,000 bail, Barton is released from jail later that morning. In February, she's charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana, and receives three years of probation, a three-month alcohol-education class and a $2,000 fine.

Photo Credits

BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): Flynet; AP

Edited by Mai Dinh, Janet Murphy