After Mischa Barton’s breakdown there was talk that her upcoming series, CW’s The Beautiful Life, was quietly training another actress to replace her as the lead. In a role that may hit too close to home, Mischa is set to play a down and out drug-addicted model struggling to hang on to her waning career. The series’ producer, Ashton Kutcher, dismisses rumors that Mischa is off the show and says Barton will soon be in NY to start shooting and that she’s “doing great.”
Ashton Kutcher says Mischa Barton is heading to New York to join the cast of her new show, “The Beautiful Life,” according to Reuters.
Ashton, the producer behind The CW show, commented on the actress at a technology conference in Pasadena where he discussed his involvement with Twitter.
“I can tell you right now Mischa Barton is doing great,” Ashton reportedly said.
In a previous statement to Access Hollywood, the star’s rep said Mischa was “improving each day” following her hospitalization last week.
Access previously broke the news that the former “The O.C.” star had been taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 15, after a source said she was placed under an involuntary psychiatric hold (also known as a 5150) by authorities.
Production on the show, on which Mischa plays a model attempting a comeback, was pushed back to the end of the month “due to set construction issues,” a CW rep told Access last week.
The show is set to begin shooting on July 31.
[From Access Hollywood, source has automatic music]
The National Enquirer claims this week that Ashton and his wife, Demi Moore, are trying to help Mischa by introducing her to the mystical Jewish-type cult they follow, Kabbalah. At least it’s not Scientology, but it would be a lot cheaper and probably more helpful for Mischa to get counseling and go to rehab:
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher… want to spearhead the recovery of the deeply troubled actress, who landed in a Los Angeles psychiatric unit after a bizarre meltdown.
“Demi and Ashton both feel Mischa has an incredible career ahead of her if she can free herself from her demons of poor self-esteem and substance abuse,” said a source.
The couple believes the teachings of Kabbalah – a type of Jewish mysticism – can help Mischa, the source said, adding that both Demi and Ashton generously reached out to Mischa’s family to offer their assistance.
Ashton feels particularly responsible for Mischa because he’s overseeing the production of her new series, “The Beautiful Life,” in which she plays an aging model. He personally selected her for the role.
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, August 3, 2009]
People need to find their own route to recovery and happiness, and sinking a lot of money and faith into various treatments and philosophies only helps those who believe in it. You’re better off seeing a therapist or doctor that works for you and buying a bunch of self help books, in my opinion. That’s my path, though, and other people get better mileage out of religion. I can’t see Mischa becoming a Kabbalah devotee, but a lot of celebrities do it and their involvement doesn’t make sense to me either.
In less cultastic news, Demi tweeted photos over the weekend of Ashton de-skunking their dog. She wrote that they used a combination of peroxide and baking soda and were going to try tomato juice next and that the “whole house stinks!”
Demi and Ashton are shown at Scout LaRue Willis’s 18th birthday party at the Cicada restaurant in Los Angeles California on July 17, 2009. Credit: Fame Pictures
ypu that’s what she needs another crutch to hide behind instead of dealing with her problems. These two really make my skin crawl. Let her get professional help to get better not a red braclet.
I don’t know…AA is hugely successful and it is firmly rooted in religion/faith. So what if you substitute a healthy addiction for an unhealthy one? It’s not like she’s super close to becoming enlightened and free of her issues. Many people use faith as a coping mechanism and so long as they’re not hurting anyone, I say live and let live. Glad to see someone cares about this girl–she always seems so adrift to me.
It couldn’t hurt.
It’s really nice and thoughtful of him to try to help her, and if he found strength and wisdome with Kabbalah and wants to help her- than good for him.
I think people can be really mean when someone falls from grace and it’s nice to see some people actually practice compassion and care. Even in Hollywood.
Ditto on previous comments. If there is validity to the Ashton/Demi story, I think it would be great if they reached out to Mischa. Reaching out with some kind of positive assistance is better than everyone standing around and shaking their heads in judgement at the poor girl. Yeah, she screwed up, but wouldn’t we all like to be given a chance and a helping hand when we have reached bottom?
are you sure we’re not being punked by the ashton publicity machine? bit of a coincidence that the star of his drug-addicted-has-been-hollywooder series, is a has-been and now is getting all sorts of publicity for needing help for her problems. boy may not be a rocket scientist, but he does have a history of trying to manipulate the media for his own ends.
Yeah, because that’s what people who don’t know each other from Adam would do. Why just the other day I caught Cate Blanchett leaving Lincoln logs in my sock drawer.
Oh yeah, and thanks Demi for spreading your legs for Kelso and thereby over-extending his career past in viable shelf life for no known reason other than he could make you squeal. There’s a special place in Hell for you, and I’ll be the one throwing peanuts at the back of your head when you get there.
Demi & Ashton are trailer trash with some ca$h.
Why do I have such a strong feeling that this time next year it’s going to be Megan Fox that gets sent to the psych ward?
See, it’s obvious-Barton was extremely full of herself and just assumed that she was going to be a huge star, simply because she got lucky and landed a role on a TV show a few years ago. Now that reality has set in, and it’s obvious that her acting career has peaked, she’s having a mental breakdown. She can’t accept that she’s not ever going to reach the level of a Julia Roberts or an Angelina Jolie. Or even a Christina Applegate, for that matter. I suspect that once she finds her true calling, which is obviously not acting, she’ll have a much happier life.
I see the same thing with Megan Fox. She’s extremely full of herself right now. She is buying her own hype and I think she genuinely believes that she’s “made it” as a star. She doesn’t get that she’s just the flavor of the month, and soon to be forgotten. Once that happens, though—look out. She’ll be right there along side Barton, stunned and bewildered and wondering where all the hangers-on went and not understanding why her phone has stopped ringing.
That’s the difference between someone who wants to be an actor and someone who wants to be a star. An actor can be happy anywhere, with or without fame, as long as he or she can find an outlet for their creativity. A famewhore, such as Barton and Fox, lives and dies for headlines. Acting is merely a part of the package.