:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/michelle-trachtenberg-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-mysterious-skin-the-adventures-of-pete-and-pete-gossip-girl-022625-b310b0fdf14e4a76864f33b3d89e3733.jpg)
Michelle Trachtenberg, star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, was found dead today at age 39.
“It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away,” a representative for Trachtenberg said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time.”
While many know her from some of this century’s most defining teen shows, the late actress spent the better part of her life onscreen, first appearing in a 1991 episode of Law & Order before breaking out as the precocious Nona on Nickelodeon’s The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
Her physical comedy, daring spirit, and deep well of vulnerability made her a memorable presence on screen. To honor her, here are EW’s picks for Michelle Trachtenberg’s best movie and TV roles.
10. Weeds (2011)
Jordin Althaus/Showtime/Courtesy Everett
In 2011, Trachtenberg appeared in five episodes of the hit Showtime series Weeds as a rival pot dealer to Mary Louise Parker‘s Nancy Botwin. It’s a supporting turn, but a fun one that allows her to bounce between comedy, drama, and romance with Hunter Parrish’s Silas.
In an interview with AOL, Trachtenberg talked about what it was like acting alongside Parker. “Watching her work is kind of like learning. I feel like you learn on every single set from every actor, and particularly when working with other talented female actresses you really pick up different nuances and study and learn different things,” she said. “There are so few women within her category that can be dramatic, comedic and a combination of both that’s really terrific, so it was nice to be able to get on set and experience that.”
9. EuroTrip (2004)
DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett
We weren’t the biggest fans of EuroTrip when it hit theaters in 2004, but EW’s critic nevertheless singled out Trachtenberg for her “charming” turn in the raunchy teen comedy. Raunch, after all, is best when balanced out with a bit of charm.
Speaking at a 10-year anniversary Q&A, Trachtenberg said it was the physicality she brought to a scene where she climbs over Jacob Pitts’ Cooper on an airplane that scored her the role. She proves herself an able comedian in the film, which perseveres in culture partly due to that unforgettable Matt Damon cameo.
8. Six Feet Under (2004)
HBO/Courtesy Everett
Before she scandalized the world as Gossip Girl‘s Georgina, Trachtenberg got to flex her nasty side as the beautiful (and cruel) pop star Celeste on HBO’s Six Feet Under. Though she appears in just four episodes of the fourth season, her character jams a huge wrench in the relationship of one of the series’ central couples, David (Michael C. Hall) and Keith (Mathew St. Patrick).
For the actress, though, it was one of the first roles that allowed her to play a sexual character, a transition that’s hard to make as child performers grow into adults.
7. The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1994–1996)
Nickelodeon/courtesy Everett
Nine-year-old Trachtenberg had a heck of a challenge when she joined the popular Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete in season 2. The sitcom was already packed with weirdos — Toby Huss’ Artie, the Strongest Man in the World, for one — and as Little Pete’s bestie Nona, she was slated to play yet another.
But thanks to Trachtenberg’s tiny-but-mighty energy and wise-beyond-her-years comportment, she soon became a standout in the show. She even held her own alongside Iggy Pop, who played her dad in the series. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.
Where to watch The Adventures of Pete & Pete: Amazon Prime Video (to buy)
6. 17 Again (2009)
Chuck Zlotnick/Warner Bros.
Trachtenberg’s strong command of comedy, drama, and sentimentality made her a perfect fit for romantic comedies, as evidenced by the Zac Efron vehicle 17 Again. Efron plays a grown man who suddenly finds himself in his former teenage body, while Trachtenberg stars as his unknowing, romantically troubled daughter.
A dad-in-disguise trying to coax his kid away from a bad boyfriend is an absurd premise, and Trachtenberg doesn’t miss a beat, thwarting his good-natured interventions before switching gears and shooting her shot with her old man. It’s an uncomfortable scene, to say the least, but this Back to the Future callback in reverse demonstrated Trachtenberg’s ability to handle cringe-humor with care.
5. Ice Princess (2005)
Rafy/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock
One of our favorite figure-skating flicks, Disney’s Ice Princess stars Trachtenberg as a physics whiz with dreams of ice-skating at the Olympics. It’s a sweet, frothy film that proved Trachtenberg could not just carry a movie as the lead, but also that she could hold her own with veterans like Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall.
Trachtenberg told EW she trained on the ice five days a week for two hours a day in preparation for the role (in addition to ballet classes “to work on the grace and skill”). “I’m working very, very hard,” she said. “My coach said that if I was to continue ice skating after the movie finishes, I could go on to compete. But I will not be quitting acting anytime soon, certainly not for ice skating.”
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000–2003)
Richard Cartwright/UPN/Courtesy Everett
No, Dawn wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. In fact, EW voted her one of the 22 most annoying TV characters ever.
“Dawn had issues, and with good reason: The people she loved kept abandoning her, her sister Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was an ultra-enviable superhero, and, oh yeah, at age 14, she found out that everything she thought she knew was a lie,” an EW staffer wrote. “Still, it was tough to feel sympathy for Dawn as she sulked, complained, and developed an irritating shoplifting problem. Maybe if the teen had whined less, viewers wouldn’t have yearned to see her get eaten by some Hellmouth beast.”
That said, Trachtenberg’s comedic timing elevated the rough writing that often plagued her character, and her scenes with Spike (James Marsters) are fondly remembered as some of her best.
3. Mysterious Skin (2004)
Lacey Terrell/Tartan Films
Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin, which EW lauded as cult filmmaker Gregg Araki’s “first work of feeling,” was one of Trachtenberg’s first roles after playing Dawn on Buffy. It was also integral in helping her transition from doe-eyed roles to more dramatic, hard-edged ones.
Here, she plays Wendy, the best friend of Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s Neil, a hustler reckoning with the sexual abuse he suffered as a child. It’s heavy stuff, and she brings a tenderness to the story without betraying the film’s gritty milieu.
“I had been looking at independent scripts for a long time,” Trachtenberg told IGN in 2005. “I had been offered some really cool roles, but just nothing that I ever connected with. And then Mysterious Skin came along… It’s very shocking but it just read so well and it felt so beautiful just on the page, so I thought, ‘Well, this must be some great effort,’ so I immediately wanted to do it.”
Where to watch Mysterious Skin: Amazon Prime Video (with a premium subscription)
2. Harriet the Spy (1996)
Paramount/Courtesy Everett
After emerging as one of the most charming oddballs on The Adventures of Pete & Pete, a 10-year-old Trachtenberg got her first starring role in 1996’s Harriet the Spy, an adaptation of Louise Fitzhugh’s beloved 1964 book. It was a role that required a delicate balance of childlike curiosity and prickliness that you don’t often get from young actors, and Trachtenberg pulled it off with aplomb.
“As Harriet, Michelle Trachtenberg has the features of a smirky young gopher,” EW’s critic wrote in his B+ review. “That face is so adorable it may take you a while to realize how many shades of pride, joy, and — when the other kids turn on her — fear are passing across it.”
Trachtenberg starred opposite Rosie O’Donnell and often praised the actress for looking out for her on set. “I turned 10 years old on the first day of principal photography of Harriet the Spy,” Trachtenberg said in a 2021 chat with ET. “Rosie was my biggest supporter. There was a lot required of me. I’m extremely grateful for the experience.”
1. Gossip Girl (2008–2012; 2022–2023)
HBO
Trachtenberg’s turn on Buffy cemented her as a household name among genre fans, but we’re nevertheless partial to her role as Gossip Girl‘s hard-edged Georgina Sparks. Clad in inky latex leggings, she rocketed into the first season like a bat out of hell, flaunting a reputation that included selling a pony for cocaine and taking the hedonistic Chuck Bass’ (Ed Westwick) virginity in the sixth grade.
”It’s awesome playing the bad girl,” Trachtenberg told EW in 2008. ”Dawn was a lovely nerd and Georgina is a bitch. There’s no way around it. It’s in every fiber of her being. It’s so much fun to know that Georgina can kill you with a glance.”
For what would be her final onscreen turn, Trachtenberg reprised the role for HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot (2022–2023).
“Her portrayal of Georgina Sparks was an iconic fan favorite, and grew from a one season villain to a beloved character who returned over the course of six seasons,” Gossip Girl creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage said in a joint statement. “She was a delight to have on set and will be deeply missed. Our thoughts are with her family.”
