Melinda Clarke as Julie Cooper: The O.C Season 3 Stills

The O.C

The series centers on Ryan Atwood, a troubled but tough young man from a broken home who is adopted by the wealthy and philanthropic Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. Ryan and his surrogate brother Seth, a socially awkward yet quick-witted teenager, deal with life as outsiders in the high-class world of Newport Beach. Ryan and Seth spend much time navigating their relationships with girl-next-door Marissa Cooper, Seth's childhood crush Summer Roberts, and the fast-talking loner Taylor Townsend. Storylines deal with the culture clash between the idealistic Cohen family and the shallow, materialistic, and closed-minded community in which they reside. The series includes elements of postmodernism, and functions as a mixture of melodrama and comedy

Season 3 begins as Marissa is expelled from the Harbor School. The Cooper family, left with little money, is forced to move into a trailer park. Marissa's life begins to spiral out of control. The other characters look towards college, with Seth and Summer both vying for a spot at Brown University. Sandy's moral compass becomes imperiled when he takes over Caleb's old position as head of The Newport Group, pursuing a project to establish more low-income housing in Newport. Ryan also attempts to resolve his individual relationships with his mother, and with his childhood friend Theresa Diaz.

Melinda Clarke as Julie Cooper

Melinda Clarke portrays Julie Cooper, the mother of Kaitlin Cooper and Marissa Cooper. At the beginning of the show she is married to financial planner Jimmy Cooper. She is often characterised as being devious, selfish, and shallow. However, she reveals a more vulnerable and empathetic part of herself a number of times during the series. Melinda Clarke summarised her character as being "clearly just such a money-digging whore. To me, it’s so funny now to see The Real Housewives of Orange County because you realise it exists and that’s what Julie was. Julie was obviously the original housewife." Melinda went on to commend the character's "incredible arc," saying that Julie started as "this woman who was so superficial but, of course, she’s not just one-dimensional, she’s multi-dimensional. Starting in her pink Juicy sweat suit outfit and then by the end she’s graduated from college and moving on with her life. She’s a survivor."