Adam Brody has returned to The O.C. — or at least, to the O.C.!
The beloved actor, who first made his name as teen Seth Cohen on the hit Fox series of that name, which ran from 2003-07, returned to the titular region of California on Friday to accept the inaugural Newport Beach TV Fest‘s Performer of the Year Award (Actor) for his portrayal of a rabbi on the Netflix rom-com Nobody Wants This, his biggest hit since The O.C. went off the air. First, though, he recorded an episode of THR‘s Awards Chatter podcast in front of an audience of adoring fans — including his wife, Gossip Girl actress Leighton Meester — which you can hear below.
Brody, who was born in San Diego, moved to Los Angeles, more or less spontaneously, around his 19th birthday, stepping away from a job at Blockbuster and dreams of a career as a pro surfer. After landing a few not-particularly-memorable parts on screens big and small, he was cast on The O.C., which catapulted him to stardom.
Over the 17 years between the end of The O.C. and the beginning of Nobody Wants This, his credits included films such as 2009’s Jennifer’s Body, 2011’s Damsels in Distress, 2020’s Promising Young Woman and 2023’s American Fiction, as well as TV shows such as StartUp (2016-18) and Fleishman Is in Trouble (2022).
But nothing permeated the cultural conversation in the way that The O.C. had — until Nobody Wants This, to which he was recruited by creator Erin Foster, on whose relationship the show is based, and Kristen Bell, who plays the aforementioned non-Jewish podcaster, and with whom Brody had previously worked on the film Some Girl(s) and three episodes of the TV series House of Lies, all released in 2013.
A major difference between Brody’s experience with The O.C. and his experience on Nobody Wants This: the fact that not just fans, but also top movers and shakers in the business, are showing him love for the latter. Indeed, this year he already has been nominated for Golden Globe and SAG awards for best actor in a musical/comedy series and won the Critics Choice Award for best actor in a comedy series. And he is now in contention for a Primetime Emmy Award nomination — which would be the first of his 26-year career — for best actor in a comedy series.
“It’s probably sweeter now that I’m 45,” he said during the podcast recording. “And even though I’ve worked steadily and been mostly happy the whole time, to have now had more of a bird’s-eye view, and to have seen some peaks and valleys, you see how rare it is.” He continued, “I never really doubted what I could do once I started doing it. I knew what I was capable of and, quite frankly, what I’m not capable of. So to have a bit of a spotlight turned back on you, at this stage, is incredibly gratifying. It’s more gratifying than it was then. I’m just really thankful for it.” He added with a laugh, “I was really famous for one character — and now I’m really famous for two.”