Taken at face value, Rachel Bilson’s new romance “Waiting for Forever” might seem to mirror her own life, but the 29 year-old actress begs to differ.
The film, which opens in theaters on Friday, has as its center an actress whose TV show gets canceled, causing her to reexamine her personal goals and love life. Bilson lost her job on TV drama “The O.C.” when it ended in 2007, and she has since been linked romantically in an up-and-down relationship with actor Hayden Christensen.
But that’s just about where Bilson and her character Emma in “Waiting for Forever” part ways. Bilson says Emma is cold, whereas the actress describes her own personality as “warm.” And while Emma struggles to find work, Bilson has no such problem.
“She has a wall up the entire time because she is trying to escape things and not deal with them,” Bilson told Reuters. “When her show gets canceled, she doesn’t care because of everything else going on in her personal life. I loved ‘The O.C.’ and saying good-bye to everybody was really hard.”
For the uninitiated, “The O.C.” followed a group of teens living in a wealthy area of Orange County, California. Bilson played socialite Summer Roberts on the show, which became a pop culture phenomenon before ending its four year run in 2007.
Bilson went on to work on TV’s “Chuck”, starred in science-fiction action movie “Jumper,” romance anthology “New York, I Love You” and now, independently-made “Waiting for Forever.”
In her new movie, Emma’s relationship with TV co-star and boyfriend (Matthew Davis) turns sour, and she returns to her hometown where her father (Richard Jenkins) is dying. At home, she reconnects with a childhood friend (Tom Sturridge) who has been in love with her for years.
Bilson’s own love life is a bit more complicated. She did date her “O.C.” co-star Adam Brody for years before breaking up — before the show was canceled. She then met Christensen, her co-star in “Jumper,” and that relationship has been an on-and-off romance.
And while Emma, in the movie, seems to have only her acting career in her future, Bilson has leveraged her celebrity into work as a designer of fashion and houseware.
Bilson has designed a line of DKNY jeans called Edie Rose, named after her two grandmothers, and just last month, she took her talents into the kitchen and fashioned a set of Edie Rose dinnerware for Macy’s department store.
“I’ve always loved dishes,” Bilson said. “As a kid, I was in my Fisher Price kitchen with my dishes. I didn’t care about all the other stuff.”
She called the line “affordable and cute” and said it “speaks to girls getting their first apartment, getting married or anyone who wants to change it up at any age.”
Bilson keeps several pieces in her home — her favorite item being a peacock teapot. She said that depending on how well the line sells, she would like to broaden it further into home items such as bedding.
Bilson has another romantic comedy on the horizon, and she recently wrapped shooting the independent film “BFF & Baby,” opposite Kate Bosworth and Jason Biggs.
