Rachel Bilson Apologizes to 'The O.C.' Costar and Director Tate Donovan for Past 'A—hole' Behavior

Rachel Bilson feels she owes Tate Donovan an apology.

Donovan, 57, joined Bilson, 39, and Melinda Clarke on their rewatch podcast, Welcome to the O.C., Bitches on Tuesday, during which Bilson apologized to her costar-turned-director for any past on-set behavior that may have created unnecessary drama.

"You went on to direct us on The O.C. and I know some of us kids were little a—holes," Bilson said during a new episode of the podcast. "And I think that speaks to that whole unaware, young, youthful, ignorant ... just idiots. And I hope I wasn't as bad as it's come off."

Donovan brushed off the comment, replying: "You can't help but believe all the sort of hype everyone gets caught up in, especially when you're young."

"I thought you were so wonderful and such a wonderful director and an amazing human," Bilson added. "So if I ever added to any of the a—holeness, I want to apologize on the record here right now."

Later in the podcast, Donovan recalled one particular interaction with Bilson on set that he said stuck with him.

"Our first scene together, you were in Seth's house and you were coming down to the pool to talk to Ryan or something like that. You did the scene, and it was great... And I said, 'Just so you know, that was great. Just so know, you've just come from Seth's room, and you've had a huge argument, in that thing, and you're like, breaking up."

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He continued, "And so, I want to see that argument in you … You know that right? You know that you had an argument with Seth?' I didn't want to step on toes. I didn't want to insult you by reminding you of that."

"You go, 'Tate, I don't read scripts, I smoke pot,'" he said, receiving laughs from Bilson and Clarke, 52.

Donovan, who played Jimmy Cooper in the long-running drama, has previously opened up about his struggles working with the younger cast members when he returned to direct.

"By the time I started to direct, the kids on the show had developed a really bad attitude," he told Vulture in 2013. "They just didn't want to be doing the show anymore. It was pretty tough; they were very tough to work with. The adults were all fantastic, total pros. But you know how it is with young actors — and I know because I was one of them once."

He continued, "When you achieve a certain amount of success, you want to be doing something else. I mean, one of them turned to me and said, 'This show is ruining my film career,' and he had never done a film before. You just can't help but sort of think that your life and your career are going to go straight up, up, up. So they were very difficult."