8. Mischa Barton – The Sixth Sense (1999)
M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense is remembered for a lot of things. Its mind-blowing plot twist, weird atmospheric thriller-horror premise, and incredible performance from Haley Joel Osment all spring immediately to mind. Although the film’s creepy little girl ghost only features briefly, she’s certainly pretty memorable. Less memorable, though, is that she’s played by Mischa Barton.
Barton is best known for her starring role in the ’00s teen drama The O.C., but she also appeared in a number of other TV and reality shows. To be fair, her career went a little off the rails after her stint in The O.C., which has made her career significantly less memorable. Generally speaking, she’s still considered mostly a TV actor, despite having racked up a few film credits.
The thing is, Mischa Barton was excellent in The Sixth Sense. Despite only featuring for a few minutes of screen time, she’s perhaps the film’s most prominent supporting character. Maybe it’s because she was so young at the time and had grown up before she really re-emerged into the spotlight, but her turn in The Sixth Sense has been far too easily forgotten.