The Beautiful Life

Cast and characters

Mischa Barton played Sonja Stone, a supermodel returning to fashion after a mysterious disappearance for the secret birth of her daughter. Sara Paxton portrayed Raina Marinelli, an aspiring model who quickly gains fame. Ben Hollingsworth played Chris Andrews, a model new to the fashion world. Corbin Bleu appeared as Isaac Taylor, a former child model aiming to become a DJ.

Nico Tortorella played Cole Shepherd, a rising underwear model. Ashley Madekwe portrayed Marissa Delfina, a socialite and backstabbing model. Elle Macpherson played Claudia Foster, owner of Covet Models and a mother figure to the models. Jaime Murray was announced as a recurring character playing a powerful wardrobe stylist who would eye Isaac.

Ed Quinn was cast as Claudia's husband, and Gal Gadot was cast as Olivia, a Gisele Bündchen-type supermodel, but neither appeared due to the cancellation. Billy Magnussen appeared as Alex, Raina's brother, in a planned multiple-episode arc. The first episode featured a guest appearance by Zac Posen at his runway show. Nina Garcia had a small cameo in the second episode.

Designers Matthew Williamson and Erin Fetherston, model Jessica Stam, model Irina Lazareanu, dancer Nico Archambault, and model Boyd Holbrook were also set to appear. Claire Unabia and Mila Bouzinova from America's Next Top Model appeared at Nina Garcia's party in episode 2. Magician David Copperfield filmed a cameo for episode 8, performing a sawing-in-half illusion on Mischa Barton, before the show was canceled.

Production notes

The show was largely filmed on location in New York City, with studio interiors at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. Producers secured product placement deals with designers and fashion houses, allowing the costume department to borrow genuine designer outfits and accessories for the cast.

As part of preparations for her role, Mischa Barton had her ears pierced for the first time to comply with a product placement deal requiring her character to wear designer earrings made for pierced ears. Magician David Copperfield filmed his cameo scenes for episode 8 in July 2009, before any other filming for that episode began, due to scheduling conflicts with his Australian tour. The illusion he performed on Barton was a new boxless version of the sawing-in-half trick, never performed publicly; stills of the scene later appeared in a magic magazine.

Reception

On Metacritic, the series received a score of 40 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews. Glenn Garvin of The Miami Herald gave a positive review, noting that the characters played by Paxton and Hollingsworth were unexpectedly affecting. Paige Wiser of the Chicago Sun-Times also reviewed positively, stating that while most characters were as distinctive as mannequins, they were nice to look at, and she complimented Barton's character for achieving inadvertent poignancy.

Robert Lloyd of The Los Angeles Times noted the show's similarity to other CW dramas, saying it hit what it aimed at because it did not aim particularly high. David Hinckley of The New York Daily News echoed that the show was designed to fit alongside CW anchors like 90210 but was predictable and stilted. Brian Lowry of Variety said the cast and writing were efficient but nothing popped. Robert Bianco of USA Today gave a mixed review, stating the show was marginally better written than Melrose Place but too lazy to work as eye candy; he criticized the acting, calling Barton inept and saying she had solidified bad habits.

Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe called the pilot half-baked. Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle called the show unwatchable, citing pointless gloss and heinous writing. Linda Stasi of The New York Post said only 12-year-olds could believe the show, criticizing the actors' runway walk and the dialogue. Jonathan Storm of The Philadelphia Inquirer called the plot laughable and the acting mediocre, noting the usual cynical CW glorification of teen sexuality and substance abuse.

Episodes

On December 17, 2009, Ashton Kutcher, the executive producer, posted on The Beautiful Life's YouTube channel that the four unaired episodes would be released online, with the possibility of more if viewer interest was strong. Five of the six completed episodes went up on the channel on December 21, 2009, thanks to a sponsorship from Hewlett-Packard. No further episodes were made, and the sixth has never been released. As of October 2018, the channel remained online, but the episodes were no longer available to watch.