A reunion worth celebrating! Rachel Bilson crossed paths with her former The O.C. costar Adam Brody at an airport on Tuesday, August 13.
“Ran into my ol buddy from jfk to lax #californiaherewecome,” Bilson, 37, captioned a selfie on Instagram that she took with Brody, 39.
The chance encounter attracted attention from Josh Schwartz, the Fox drama’s creator and executive producer. He jokingly replied that he did not “get the reference” being made in Bilson’s caption quoting the theme song.
While Bilson’s career has moved far beyond her O.C. days, her reunion selfie with Brody comes months after she posted a throwback snap of herself in character as Summer Roberts on the teen series. “Mmmkay #tko #pants #zebra,” the actress captioned a pic in April of Summer hitting a punching bag as her character’s then-boyfriend Zach Stevens, played by Michael Cassidy, crept up behind her.
The O.C. ran for four seasons on Fox from 2003 to 2007. Bilson and Brody (Seth Cohen) starred alongside Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper), Ben McKenzie (Ryan Atwood), Peter Gallagher (Sandy Cohen), Kelly Rowan (Kirsten Cohen) and Melinda Clarke (Julie Cooper). The popular show followed troubled teen Ryan as he became entangled in the lives of the wealthy residents of Newport Beach in Orange County, California.
On The O.C., Bilson and Brody’s characters developed an onscreen romance. By the show’s fourth and final season, the high school sweethearts tied the knot before loved ones in an emotional ceremony.
Like their fictional counterparts, Bilson and Brody began dating in real life. However, the former pair called it quits in 2006 after three years together. Brody eventually wed Leighton Meester in 2014, and the couple share 4-year-old daughter Arlo. Bilson, meanwhile, shares 4-year-old daughter Briar with her ex-boyfriend, Hayden Christensen.
Bilson and Brody aren’t the only O.C. alums who keep in touch. In March, Olivia Wilde — who had a recurring role as Alex Kelly, Seth and Marissa’s ex-girlfriend — told Us Weekly that it “was so wonderful” to see the Hart of Dixie star “at a Baby2Baby event a couple of months ago.” She also noted that she ran into McKenzie, 40, when they were “touring the same preschool” in New York City.
“I see people every now and then at different things,” Autumn Reeser, who played Taylor Townsend on the series, told Us at the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Summer 2019 TCA Press Tour Event in July. “Ben and Rachel and a bunch of us met up at the O.C. Musical at the Montalban.”
