Chris Pine Reacts to Shady Comment From ‘The O.C.’ Casting Director Who Called out His ‘Really Bad Skin Problems’

Chris Pine is responding to comments that were made about his acne by The O.C. casting director Patrick Rush.

Rush revealed in the 2023 book Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History that Pine had auditioned for the role of Ryan Atwood but lost out on the part to Ben McKenzie because of his “really bad skin problems” that “looked insurmountable.”

Asked about the comment during the May 9 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast by host Josh Horowitz, The Poolman star, 43, responded that while his struggle with acne in his younger years is “a part of [his] life,” Rush “didn’t have to talk about it.” He added, “I mean, it’s his prerogative.”

The Star Trek actor continued that he had “awful skin” as a teenager and began to break out once again after graduating college. “Look, I was going out for The O.C., like a teenage melodrama,” he said. “I can understand why they wanted to have pretty people doing pretty things. And bad acne is not a key to [success].”

Horowitz quipped in response, “It’s a shame. If you had gone on The O.C., your career might have worked out,” to which Pine replied, “I don’t want to say I’m grateful for not having landed the job, but I’m all right.”

Despite his acting career having taken off even without the teen drama role, Pine said being reminded of his skin issues and their impact on his career did give him “a little bit [of] PTSD.”

“It’s no fun having bad skin,” he recalled. “It’s no fun going to auditions when you have bad skin. It was one of the most traumatic points of my life, but it is my story.” The Don’t Worry Darling star continued, “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 kind of just like you get a pimple on your forehead, [but] it can also be tremendously debilitating and really, seriously, emotionally incapacitating, which it was for me.” 

He concluded with an addendum to listeners going through a similar experience. “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 said.