Rachel Bilson

She is best known as Summer Roberts on The O.C., an American television "dramedy", which focuses on the lives of the beautiful and wealthy in a gated Newport Beach community.

She is the granddaughter of director Bruce Bilson and the daughter of writer/director Danny Bilson. Her stepmother is Heather Medway, an actress and the mother of Bilson's half-sister Hattie.

She graduated from Walter Reed Middle School in 1996 and Notre Dame High School in 1999. During her time at Notre Dame, Bilson appeared in productions of Bye Bye Birdie, Once Upon a Mattress and The Crucible. In addition to her role on The O.C., she has appeared in 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, That '70s Show, and Punk'd after being tricked by Ashton Kutcher for the havoc caused by the dog that was also owned by O.C. co-star/boyfriend Adam Brody.

She has been a spokesperson for Bongo jeans. In 2005, Maxim magazine named her in the sixth spot of their annual "100 Hot List." At the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, Bilson collected three awards - Choice Hottie Female, Choice TV Actress (Drama) and Best Onscreen TV Chemistry (jointly won with Adam Brody).

Bilson's first film role was in The Last Kiss, a romantic comedy-drama also starring Zach Braff in 2006. She played a college student who seduces Braff's character. One review of the film noted that Bilson played the role with "surprising depth," although another critic described her role as "Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction as an airhead valley girl with a hot bod."

In late 2006, Bilson was cast in the film Doug Liman's thriller Jumper, as the replacement for actress Teresa Palmer; the film was released on February 14, 2008. She appeared in a two-episode arc on The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz's NBC comedy, Chuck, and in the film New York, I Love You. She appeared in the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother ("Girls Versus Suits") as Ted Mosby's latest love interest and the Mother's roommate.

In September 2008, she started shooting the indie romantic film Waiting for Forever, directed by James Keach. In September 2009 Rachel appeared as a celebrity guest judge in the third episode of Project Runway (season 6). Bilson starred in the 2011 indie film L!fe Happens. In 2011, Bilson began starring in The CW series Hart of Dixie, executive produced by The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz. In 2017, Bilson joined the cast of CMT's Nashville which reunites her with her former The O.C. co-star Chris Carmack.

In 2018, she starred in the ABC drama series Take Two.