Mischa’s car-crash career

Losing looks
Letting her enviable looks - go to pot, Mischa's more unkempt rock chick than LA ‘It' girl. Assistants on a recent photoshoot for Nylon magazine revealed they had a "really hard time trying to make her look good" and judging by recent bikini pics, Mischa's packing more orange peel than a juice bar. Shrugging off the bad press, she's fled to Paris to "concentrate on her career". What career? That'd be a Brit remake of Alice In Wonderland. She'd need to pull the white rabbit out of a hat to revive this career.

Pride before a fall
Leaving The OC clutching a stash of awards - including Woman of the Year and Breakthrough Actress of the Year - Mischa assumed it wouldn't be long before the studios came a-calling with offers. With unrealistic aspirations, she turned down a series of promising roles - including a part in the teen drama du jour, Gossip Girl - holding out for a better offer. But with stories of her partying and temper tantrums, that illustrious ‘better offer' never came.

Promising beginnings
Once tipped as a hot young future A-lister, child star Mischa had already starred in blockbusters Notting Hill and The Sixth Sense (she was that creepy girl under the bed, fact fans) before the age of 13. When she added a critically acclaimed turn in the trendy Sundance flick Lawn Dogs to her CV, worldwide stardom was just a hop, skip and an uber-cool teen drama away.

Floundering fashionista
Once lauded as a style icon of her generation, Mischa - a disciple of stylist Rachel Zoe - was a pioneer of understated LA chic. Recently however, she's taken to dressing like our auntie on bingo night. Ironically, underdog Rachel Bilson's emerged as the fashion-watchers fave from the OC alumni. With her acting career stalled, Mischa's turned designer and designed a range of handbags. Hope they sell better than tickets for her movies.

Too much, too young?
Busted for DUI and drug possession last year, a court-ordered alcohol awareness program and several declarations of ‘focusing on her career' later, Mischa had to scrabble around for crumbs on the casting agents' desks. Cue You And I - a film based around Russian girl band TaTu. Snubbing the Cannes premiere and refusing to do any promotion, however, will have only seen her struck off more directors' books.