For Millennials, Seth Cohen was an unlikely heart-throb.
It was the noughties, The O.C. was the world’s biggest teen drama and Seth was the nerdy sidekick of the show’s bad boy, Ryan Atwood, played by Ben McKenzie.
Despite McKenzie being positioned as the show’s romantic male lead opposite Mischa Barton’s Marissa Cooper, it was Seth who truly stole – and forever captured – viewers’ hearts 21 years ago.
Now, the man who played Seth, Adam Brody, is having a renaissance thanks to his starring role in Netflix’s new Erin Foster-created series, Nobody Wants This. And he’s stealing hearts all over again.
In the show, the 45-year-old actor plays Noah, a recently single “hot rabbi” who heals, accepts and adores unlucky-in-love Joanne, a snarky podcaster played by Kristen Bell.
Viewers have hailed the series as fresh, relatable and clever, and applauded Foster for writing about a healthy relationship as opposed to the toxic ones with which we’re more often presented on TV.
In fact, the series is based on Foster’s own relationship with her now husband and her conversion to Judaism.
In an interview with Red, Brody revealed how Foster had always plotted for him to play the emotionally intelligent Noah – he was just waiting patiently for the call-up.
“She was sort of adamant that it be me,” he told the publication. “I heard through the grapevine and mutual friends that this was going to end up at my desk and when it did happen, I was really pleased.”
Social media is pleased, too. If you open Instagram or TikTok, the apps are flooded with Adam Brody content, whether it be memes praising his character Noah, posts reminiscing about his days on The O.C. or content comparing the actor between then and now.
What is Adam Brody most known for?
“It feels both like ancient history and yesterday,” Brody recalled of his breakout character, Seth, who, like Noah, is Jewish. Brody himself is Jewish, too, however he’s not practising.
He’s also not getting too caught up in the fanfare about his career.
“I’d be lying if I said I was engaged in it much,” he said. “But at the same time, I love that these things, you know, carry on a life … not of their own, but stay in the consciousness and either find new fans or have people revisit them.
“I mean, I love that they’re not forgotten, you know? And I’m very proud to have a character in my past that really resonated with a large group of people, both my peers and a generation younger than me. So, yeah, I mean, it warms my heart.”
Brody was 23 when he was catapulted into the public consciousness via The O.C. – and can understand the pull of nostalgia.
“I mean, it’s incredibly human to reflect on time and the passage of it constantly. I was both young and not so young, depending on how you look at it. You know, if I was an athlete, I’d be retired by now.”
But retirement isn’t on the cards. Netflix has already confirmed Nobody Wants This will return for a second season, proof that viewers want to see rom-coms about people in their forties.
“Mine and Kristen’s characters are older than last time I’ve done this sort of thing; we’re bringing a different level of experience and baggage,” he said. “The characters are carrying that and they’re at a different point in their lives and a different crossroads. And, you know, perhaps a more complicated one.”
The resurgence of the rom-com is something of a surprise to the actor. “The truth is, I love them,” Brody told Red when asked why he we haven’t seen him in more. “I don’t know if it’s the cycle of the business for the past 15 years – I think they’ve just been a little out of vogue. But I think that had one of this quality come my way sooner, I would have done it.”
What about a collaboration between Brody and his wife of a decade, Leighton Meester? The actress, like Brody, had an intoxicating effect on a generation thanks to her own role in a teen drama, playing Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl, which filled the gaping hole left by The O.C. in 2007.
Brody recently divulged to Us Weekly that he loves working with his wife – the couple have appeared in three films together.
“She’s charmingly aloof to the business. She will literally not know Seth Rogen’s name, you know what I mean? It’s f–king great,” he gushed. “Because it doesn’t diminish her art. That’s not where she’s focusing, so she has that outsider quality and she can come in but she’s such an artist. She’s a poet, she has a depth and a read on material that is always illuminating and has a great radar.”
Away from Hollywood, the couple are perhaps in their favourite roles of all. They’re parents to daughter Arlo, 9, and a son, 4, whose name they’re yet to reveal.
“When you’re married and have that commitment, and when you have kids, you’re partners on the most important project of your life,” he told the Podcrushed podcast in 2023. “There’s a lot of work required from both of you. Even though it’s the most pleasurable thing in my life, it’s not always instant pleasure. There’s a lot of compromise and pride swallowing. But we’re very fortunate.”
As as for whether they sit down together and catch re-runs of The O.C. or Gossip Girl, Brody admitted to InStyle, “We don’t watch it. Who knows, when our kids are older, if they want to, then maybe we’ll take that trip with them.”
