Mischa Barton revealed why she fought so hard for The O.C. to kill Marissa Cooper.

To this day, some fans blame Barton's decision to leave the show as one of the main reasons why it ultimately came to an end. In case you don't remember, her character died during the Season 3 finale while she was in the car on her way to the airport. It was a heartbreaking scene that's still considered one of the biggest moments in TV history.

At the time, the actress said she wanted to leave the show, however, there were so many other ways her character could have been written off. Now, years later, in a new interview with The New York Times, the actress admitted she didn't want Marissa to have any reason to come back to Orange County.

"I fought tooth and nail for that to not happen, because I just don't think that's Marissa Cooper," she explained. "I just don't think sailing off into the sunset's the proper goodbye."

She also called Marissa a "burnout" character, adding that there's nothing more she or the writers "could have done with her anyway." Plus, she said had other projects she wanted to work on and the series was getting in the way of that.

"I just had a lot in my career that I wanted to do and accomplish," she told the newspaper. "I felt like things were really heavily reliant upon me, and I was getting no time to do any of the other offers that were out there."

"Making the show was a lot towards the end,” she added. “I really feel like everything sort of worked out in the way it was probably supposed to. I may never have gotten a job or a career if I hadn’t taken just taken it then.”

Relive Marissa Cooper's death on The O.C. in the clip below:

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