The O.C.’s Rachel Bilson returns to her first regular television role on The CW’s Hart of Dixie this fall. On the medical drama, Bilson plays Dr. Zoe Hart, a down on her luck New York City doctor who loses both her job and her boyfriend. She then finds a new home and a new job in Alabama.
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“Is there a show on my shoulders? It’s getting heavy,” Bilson jokes about playing the series’ titular character with reporters at Thursday’s Television Critics Association (TCA) on Thursday.
“I think there are so many different relationships going on,” she then explains. “And the characters are awesome. I’m so lucky to have everyone that I do. I don’t feel any pressure, because I really feel like it’s a group effort and everyone is so fantastic. I realize it is Hart of Dixie and Zoe Hart, it is her last name. But it is a group effort, and it really is a family. So there’s no pressure.”
The series also stars Friday Night Lights’ Scott Porter and My Generation’s Jaime King. It reunites Bilson with O.C. exec producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (also of Gossip Girl).
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Bilson says she was always open to returning to television, but she always felt that when she did come back it would include Schwartz and Savage. She said meeting the rest of the producing team and the pilot’s strong writing sealed the deal for her.
“Everything felt right. You know when you just know,” the actress says.
Hart of Dixie premieres Monday, Sept. 26 on The CW.
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