A rep for Mischa Barton has dismissed reports the actress behaved “unprofessionally” while filming a new episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The actress, who is playing a prostitute in a guest role on the TV series, allegedly upset cast and crew after repeatedly forgetting her lines while shooting earlier this week. The former O.C. star is said to have frustrated her co-star Mariska Hargitay by relying on her for cues to finish their scene. A source tells the New York Daily News, “People close to her were hoping this would get her back on track. But it looks like she’s going to need yet another chance.” But a spokesperson for Barton insists there have been no problems: “Everything’s going swimmingly on set.”

Mischa Barton prefers kissing girls onscreen because lesbian love scenes are more “relaxed.” The 23-year-old actress locked lips with Alex Kelly during her stint on teen drama The O.C., and she got intimate with Evan Rachel Wood in U.S. TV show Once And Again. Barton also starred in 2008 movie You and I, which told the story of two teenage girls who fall in love after meeting at a concert. Barton admits she prefers same-sex smooching in front of the camera, because it’s less stressful than kissing male co-stars. She tells Britain’s OK magazine, “It doesn’t annoy me that much. It’s so much easier to kiss another girl. You’re so much more relaxed filming and you can have a laugh. It can get a bit tense with a guy.”

Mischa Barton thinks being sectioned was a “good” thing. The former O.C. star was placed under an involuntary psychiatric hold earlier this year but says she appreciated the chance to take time out and reassess her life. She said: “I went to the hospital because of pain with my wisdom teeth and I ended up getting ‘put in’, but that’s because I was so overwhelmingly stressed out and upset. “I think it was my teeth and the stress of having a new job and travelling. I was miserable. Actresses aren’t given the time to recover after stuff like that – you’re expected to bounce back from surgery and work right away again. “I was shocked it went that far but I think it was necessary for me to take that time out. I’m so much more settled and calm now. “Ultimately, it was a positive thing.” Despite the stigma associated with mental health issues, Mischa insists lots of people suffer from disorders and are hospitalised. She added to Heat magazine: “It’s something that could’ve happened to anyone – going into hospital and having a bad experience then being held on an involuntary psychiatric hold. It happens to more people than you’d know. It’s a common thing.”

Where do you go after playing a glamorous model named Sonja Stone on The CW’s short-lived The Beautiful Life? How about to Law & Order: SVU as a hooker named Gladys? SVU executive producer Neal Baer has been twittering teases about Mischa’s casting with the clues: Bongo, Singer and Austin. The Texas/Bongo clues got me all excited that he was bringing Matthew McConaughey on to the show, but Baer called me up to exclusively reveal the casting of Mischa, who has played characters with those last three names. She played Katie Singer on Once and Again, Betty Ann Bongo on an animated series called Kablam!, and (Baer was really reaching) a character named Vicky Austin in a 2002 TV Movie called A Ring of Endless Light. (All he had to do was say Cooper, and we would have known he was talking about The OC star.) Baer says he first took a shine to Mischa when she was a kid actress in The Sixth Sense. “She’s gone on to do amazing work both on TV and on the stage,” says Baer, who thought casting Mischa as a hooker would surprise viewers. The episode, set to air March 3 (after the Olympics conclude) will reveal that Mischa’s character is hiding a secret that will prove complicating for Mariska Hargitay’s Benson. I’d just like to be on set when the AD’s yell out, “No, I said Mischa, not Mariska!” Source: TV Guide Magazine

We want to wish you a merry christmas, great holidays and a happy new year! This site is going on a little winter break. Don’t worry, we’re back in January 2010 with the latest on Miss Mischa Barton!