US star brings some Hollywood glamour to Australia

Everybody needs good Neighbours — and it seems a surprising new star.

Filming of the Australian soap-opera Neighbours reboot begun, just less than a year after the iconic show was cancelled.

On Tuesday morning it was announced former The OC star, Mischa Barton, will take centre stage as a guest character.

Barton, most famous for her role as Marissa Cooper in the popular teen-drama, is playing “an American new to Erinsborough, who’s not quite who she appears to be,” according to the statement from Amazon, where Neighbours will now be streamed.

“I’m excited to be part of this iconic show’s next chapter, and I am really looking forward to being back in Australia- a place I know and love,” Barton said.

Her career began at the age of eight, appearing in several off-Broadway plays, before taking roles in smaller films by 1997.

The starlet then appeared in critically and commercially successful films, Notting Hill and Sixth Sense.

In 2003, came the premiere of The OC, which became an overnight success, and resulted in Barton skyrocketing to fame.

The show was based in Orange County, California, and followed the lives of affluent teenagers navigating their dramatic person lives.

By the end of season three, Barton had left the show, before it was cancelled in 2007 at the end of season four, after ratings plummeted.

The OC devotees and millennials alike will be pleased to see the 2000s pop-culture icon’s resurgance in the much-loved Aussie drama.

Luckily for the Neighbours cult following across the globe, the show is back in production thanks to Amazon Freevee, an American streaming service owned by Amazon.

To all the Australian lovers of Neighbours, don’t fret, the show is set to be released on Prime Video, so fans can follow along again with the daily drama, challenges, loves and and lives of the residents of Ramsay Street.