Hollywood mourns Michelle Trachtenberg — the actor who began her career as a child on The Adventures of Pete & Pete and went on to star on TV shows like Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and films like Mysterious Skin and Ice Princess. News of her death broke February 26, and her co-stars have been sharing remembrances on social media since.
“Warner Bros. Television mourns the tragic loss of our friend Michelle Trachtenberg,” the official Gossip Girl Instagram stated. “Our thoughts are with her family, friends, colleagues, and fans.” Gossip Girl stars including Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, and Chace Crawford have post tributes as well. Lively posted a still from their first Gossip Girl scene together on her Instagram Story. “This is the first day I met Michelle,” she wrote. “She was electricity. You knew when she entered a room because the vibration changed. Everything she did, she did 200%. She laughed the fullest at someone’s joke, she faced authority head on when she felt something was wrong, she cared deeply about her work, she was proud to be a part of this community and industry.”
Rosie O’Donnell, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in Harriet the Spy, told People she “loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.” J. Smith-Cameron, who played Harriet’s mother in the film, also issued a statement, saying “I played Mrs. Welch, Harriet’s mother in Harriet the Spy. Michelle had been on a Nickelodeon show called Adventures of Pete & Pete but this seemed to be her first lead film role. She was so excited.” Smith-Cameron said the two had reconnected over social media once Trachtenberg had become an adult. “She was always very warm toward me,” she wrote. “I feel very shocked and unsettled to hear of her passing.”
Below, find tributes from those who worked with Trachtenberg during her Nickelodeon days, on Buffy, and through her time on Gossip Girl.