Hollywood Crush › The Beautiful Life

By Cara Alwill

Mischa Barton is taking quite a departure from her role as a classy and glamorous model Sonja Stone on the CW series "The Beautiful Life" (which is currently playing on YouTube for those of you looking to catch up). TV Guide reports that the actress will take on the role of a prostitute named Gladys on "Law & Order: SVU." Yikes!

Not many details have been released about the episode, set to air March 3, but we do know that Mischa’s character is hiding a secret that will make things a tad chaotic for Mariska Hargitay’s Detective Olivia Benson.

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Tags Law & Order: SVU, Mariska Hargitay, Mischa Barton, Neal Baer, The Beautiful Life

Rumors have been swirling for months that The CW's quickly canceled series "The Beautiful Life: TBL" would somehow walk the runway again, most likely during the network's quiet summer season. But according to Reuters, creator Ashton Kutcher has decide to resurrect the series online.

Only two episodes of the model drama aired before the network pulled the plug in September. Ashton has three additional episodes in the can and is planning to upload all five to YouTube, with the first three going up today and the remaining two premiering December 21.

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Tags Ashton Kutcher, Ben Hollingsworth, Billy Magnussen, Ed Quinn, Elle Macpherson, Mischa Barton, Nico Tortorella, Sarah Paxton, The Beautiful Life

If the unfashionably early demise of The CW series "The Beautiful Life: TBL" left you with a closet full of questions—Who's the father of Sonja's (Mischa Barton) baby? Is Raina's (Sara Paxton) brother sleeping with the fishes?—you're not alone. Just a few days ago we pondered these same (seemingly unanswerable) questions. But we needed a little closure, so Hollywood Crush caught up with a member of the model drama's production staff who spilled major details about the series including what we would have seen in upcoming episodes (hint: sex, lies and murder!).

As was earlier reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the cast and crew were in the middle of filming the seventh episode when news broke last Friday that the show would be canceled. (Ironically they were ahead of production compared to other CW shows, even though they started two weeks late). Even more surprisingly, they didn't hear the news first from CW brass. Nope, they heard it like the rest of us—through the media! According to our insider, the news was leaked to THR 10 minutes before executives informed producers the series was dunzo. Our source also added that a script for the eighth episode was finished and scripts for the ninth and tenth episodes were in various stages of completion.

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Tags Ben Hollingsworth, Billy Magnussen, Ed Quinn, Elle Macpherson, Mischa Barton, Nico Tortorella, Sarah Paxton, The Beautiful Life

EDITORS NOTE: After we published this post we actually got a chance to talk with an insider from "The Beautiful Life" who low and behold had answers to almost all of our questions. So after you read the below, make sure not to miss our exclusive interview about the show's cancellation and would-be storylines!

By now you've likely heard the CW model drama "The Beautiful Life: TBL" walked off the runway — or more accurately, was pushed — due to poor ratings. The Mischa Barton-starring series, produced by Ashton Kutcher, ran for just two episodes before getting the axe, making it the first series cancellation of the 2009-10 season. Though low viewership was blamed, we can't help but wonder if the inclusion of "beautiful" in the title had something to do with it. Back in 2006, another show about comely characters, the ABC Family drama "Beautiful People," starring Daphne Zuniga and a pre-"Twilight" Jackson Rathbone (!), was also canceled, though after 16 episodes.

Whatever the reason for its demise, the death of "TBL" has left us with several unsolved mysteries and burning questions. After the jump, check out our top 10:

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Tags Ashton Kutcher, Ben Hollingsworth, Corbin Bleu, Mischa Barton, Nico Tortorella, Sarah Paxton, The Beautiful Life

Sure these days Mischa Barton is busy working hard on her new CW series, "The Beautiful Life: TBL," in which she plays a struggling model and former "It Girl," but the actress certainly isn't ruling out any other opportunities that may come her way — including the chance to reunite with her former amigos Adam Brody, Rachel Bilson and Benjamin McKenzie for an "O.C." reunion.

Yes, that's right: Mischa would love to tackle playing Marissa Cooper one more time. Even if Cam Gigandet did kill her in the series. Only problem is, she's not sure everyone would be willing to come on board for it.

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Tags Mischa Barton, The Beautiful Life, The O.C., Video

Marissa Cooper left 'The O.C.' behind back in 2006 when she was killed off the series, but she's since been reincarnated as the "bitchy but sweet" model (and mommy!) Sonja Stone on The CW's new Wednesday night series about beautiful people, "The Beautiful Life." "I like playing a character that's a lot closer to my personality. Marissa was a little more of a stretch," Mischa Barton told MTV News about her return to the small screen.

She also shared how grateful she is to be back working. "It's just nice to do it a second time after the success of 'The O.C.,' which was so crazy. It's just nice to do it and know what's going to come and sit back and relax and enjoy it this time." We're not quite sure how leaving the sunny beaches of SoCal for the hustle and bustle of NYC is more relaxing, but the actress says she embraced the idea of shooting "TBL" in Manhattan. "I grew up in the city, so for me, it's just great to be back and have an apartment here and be near my best friends," she said. "I'm just so happy at work. I love my job. We're having a lot of fun filming, and the stress of the summer is over, which is nice." By stress, we assume she's referring to her hospitalization in Mid-July, so we're happy to hear she's recovered. Press play below to hear more from Mischa.

Tags Mischa Barton, The Beautiful Life, The O.C., Video