Washington [US], May 12 : Actor Chris Pine has opened up about not landing the role of Ryan Atwood in the American teen drama television series 'The O.C.' due to his bad acne at the time, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In Welcome to The O.C.: An Oral History, which was released in honour of the programme's 20th anniversary, casting director Patrick Rush claimed that the 'Star Trek actor' did not get the lead part in the Fox show because of his skin problems.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast ahead of the premiere of Pine's directorial debut, Poolman, host Josh Horowitz asked him whether discussing how he lost the part due to his acne was Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a sore point for him.
"No I mean, it's a part of my life. Look, do I wish...? The man didn't have to talk about it. I mean, it's his prerogative," the Wonder Woman star said. "I had awful skin as a teenager, and then after college, my skin started breaking out again. I was going out for 'The O.C.', which is a teenage melodrama. I can understand that they wanted to have pretty people doing pretty things, and bad acne is not a key to that."
When the host joked that it's a shame the actor didn't get the role because maybe his career would've worked out if he had, Pine responded, "I don't want to say, 'I'm grateful for not having landed [the part].' I'm alright, but it is a little PTSD," he added. "It's no fun having bad skin. ... It was one of the most traumatic points of my life, but it is my story, man."
Ben McKenzie was cast as Ryan Atwood, alongside Mischa Barton, Adam Brody, Rachel Bilson, Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Melinda Clarke, Tate Donovan, and Alan Dale, with Chris Pratt and Olivia Wilde appearing in recurring parts.
Later in the chat with Horowitz, Pine discussed how difficult it was for him to have such bad acne as a child, adding that it had an emotional impact on him.
"It's so strange. People talk about obesity and, obviously, I understand the difficulty of that or they talk about any sorts of things, and I feel like acne is regarded as this thing of like, 'Oh, it's just like, what you go through as a teenager.' And it can be," he said. "And it can be kind of just like you get a pimple on your forehead. It can also be tremendously debilitating and really, seriously, emotionally incapacitating, which it was for me."
He concluded, "So, for anyone out there that is experiencing that: I get you, I hear you, I've been there, I know it. I know how depressing it can be and the kind of depths of sorrow it can drag you to, but there is a brighter day."
Pine directed, starred in and co-wrote Poolman, which follows his character, Darren Barrenman, a Los Angeles pool cleaner who spends his days looking after the Tahitian Tiki apartment building's pool. One day, he's approached by a femme fatale to uncover corruption and agrees to make his hometown a better place to live. 'Poolman' is in theatres now, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
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