Biography - Rachel Bilson

Gorgeous starlet Rachel Bilson has found major fame on Fox’s teen soap opera “The O.C.”, and the undeniably talented, stunning actress is unlikely to stop there. Born in Los Angeles on August 25, 1981, Bilson was raised by her Jewish-American father and Italian-American mother, who divorced when she was a child. Bilson remained with her father’s family, practically guaranteeing her ultimate interest in show business. Her father is a writer-director and several of his relatives worked in the industry as actors, screenwriters, and directors. The young Rachel enjoyed acting as a teenager, and while attending Notre Dame High School appeared in productions of “Bye Bye Birdie”, “The Crucible”, and “Once Upon a Mattress”. At 17 she began acting professionally in commercials for Pepto-Bismol, Raisin Bran and others.

Bilson’s career took a while to take off, but in 2003 it exploded with guest appearances on “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. This led to an audition for a new Fox series, “The O.C.”, which would ultimately become the “90210” for a new generation. Bilson earned the role of Summer Roberts, the best friend of Mischa Barton’s character Marissa Cooper. Summer was originally intended to be a small role primarily confined to the first season, but her energetic performance as the ditsy, rich teen combined with her on-screen sparks with co-star Adam Brody made her one of the show’s most popular additions. As somewhat of a foil to Barton’s more cynical character, Bilson continues to be a delightful part of the somewhat vapid but always entertaining Fox drama.

Bilson is currently dating Brody, forming a heavily talked-about couple that mirrors their on-screen relationship. Her major film debut will be alongside Zach Braff and Jacinda Barrett in this fall’s “The Last Kiss”. A remake of a 2001 Italian film of the same name, the romance is directed by well-known character actor Tony Goldwyn and penned by Oscar-winner Paul Haggis.