Celebrity
The Olsen Twins Saved Rachel Bilson From TRL Fans — But Forgot Adam Brody
“They were like, ‘Don’t you need to get your boyfriend?’”
After The O.C. premiered in 2003, Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson quickly became young Hollywood’s golden couple, both on and offscreen. The duo often found themselves fighting crowds — and sometimes, they relied on famous friends to escape.
In Welcome to the O.C., Alan Sepinwall, Josh Schwartz, and Stephanie Savage’s new oral history of the series, Bilson revealed that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen once rescued her from a fan mob, but forgot to bring Brody along.
At the time, The O.C. fans were caught up in what the book cleverly dubbed “Brodymania” — but while many viewers will recall the fervor surrounding Brody, the actor himself doesn’t have many memories of it. “We all hung out so much that I felt in a bubble,” he said. “I didn’t have many Beatles moments.”
Could that really be true? Bilson thinks he might just not recall the details. “I don’t want to say he’s lying because he may not remember,” she said.
How The Olsen Twins Rescued Bilson
Bilson told the Welcome to the O.C. authors about a particularly hectic appearance on MTV’s TRL in May 2004. She was booked for the same episode as the Olsen twins, and Brody, as her then-boyfriend, accompanied her. All went to plan until, as they were leaving, they were mobbed by fans waiting outside of the Times Square studios.
Somehow, the Olsens were able to swoop in and save Bilson. “The Olsen twins rescued me and threw me in their car,” she said. “I left Brody behind because I was so nervous and didn’t know what to do. And they were like, ‘Don’t you need to get your boyfriend?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve got to go get him.’”
Brody’s Life As A “Teen Heartthrob”
Several members of The O.C. cast and crew spoke about how sudden fame changed their lives. “You’re not going to a mall for the next 5, 10 years,” said Ben McKenzie, while Kelly Rowan recalled a need to “travel under an alias.”
However, no one experienced the madness more than Brody. Creator and writer Schwartz said Brody and Bilson were pursued by paparazzi “any time they walked to Coffee Bean on Sunset,” and producer Savage said Brody attracted attention even in a large crowd.
“We went to see Death Cab [for Cutie] with Adam and went up to the front of the crowd,” she said. “I physically put his hoodie over his head because too many people were staring at him — it felt uncomfortable. That was a real ‘holy sh*t’ moment.”
Still, Brody maintains that his time as a “teen heartthrob” wasn’t all that crazy. “Right now, it would seem crippling to have that much [celebrity],” he said. “But this was essentially pre-social media. I wasn’t online, and we’re doing the show nine and a half months a year... I’m also with the same person, mostly the entirety of that show. I’m just hanging with the same group. It just felt insular.”
