Rachel Bilson gave us Summer Roberts, The O.C.’s fast-talking, Y2K-dressed, Seth Cohen dream girl, and Dr. Zoe Hart, the New York doctor who traded Manhattan for small-town Alabama on Hart of Dixie. This year, she checked into Sacred Heart as JD’s new love interest in the Scrubs revival. Now she’s starring in the holiday horror-comedy Christmas at the Kringles as a woman whose new neighbors celebrate Christmas year-round. Off camera, she might have more in common with the neighbors, at least when it comes to her Thanksgiving soundtrack.
In our series, We Needed This, we name the things we want more of and ask our guests to weigh in. Here’s what Bilson had to say about…
We needed this: more people dressing up as “O.C.” characters for Halloween.
I've seen things on Instagram, people dressed up as Summer Roberts, and I love it. I think it's so sweet. And because Y2K fashion is kind of back, I say, “yes, we needed this.”
Do you have an idea of where you wish that Summer Roberts would be now?
I feel like lawyer is the obvious answer, but let's put her in New York City. It's like Home Alone in the city, but it's Summer.
We needed this: a Rachel Bilson-Zach Braff onscreen reunion.
Yeah, we needed this. He's my buddy.
Do you think that Dr. Zoe Hart would fit in at Sacred Heart Hospital?
For sure. They need a cardiothoracic surgeon, which she was supposed to be, and that could be her moment.
We needed this: to celebrate Christmas year-round.
I'm going to go with yes and no. We needed this, but we also don't always need this. But this year, we needed this.
Do you have a holiday tradition that you would upgrade to full year-round status?
Christmas music. Cooking to Christmas music, specifically. I cook my entire Thanksgiving dinner to Christmas music. I'm a big fan of the [A] Charlie Brown Christmas album on repeat. It's so sweet.
[“Christmas at the Kringles”] is a horror-comedy movie. Do you have an actual horror-movie-type fear of anything?
I have fears. I used to be scared of pigeons. I'm not anymore. They're really cute.
Is there anything that recently made you say: “We needed this”?
A New York minute. I got to come to New York for one day and I needed this. Anytime I land here and you see the skyline and you're here and the energy, I'm convinced I'm moving here, by the way, at some point. Maybe when my daughter… I'm going to have her go to college here so we both can move here.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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