Washington DC [US] : Actor Penn Badgley remembered his late Gossip Girl co-star Michelle Trachtenberg during the premiere of You Season 5, reported E! News.
At the event, Badgley spoke with emotion about Trachtenberg, who passed away in February this year. Reflecting on her vibrant spirit, Badgley described her death as “really surreal” and “really saddening.”
“What I remember of her is that she was incredibly quick to laugh. She was really joyous. We all have our ups and downs, our lights and shadows, but she had this — I mean, she was mature, but she had this childlike, joyous laugh,” Badgley shared.
Although Badgley admitted he hadn’t seen Trachtenberg “in over a decade,” he emphasized that he would always remember her as having a “really pure heart.”
Michelle Trachtenberg, widely recognized for her roles in Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, passed away at the age of 39. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) confirmed she was found unconscious and unresponsive in her Manhattan apartment.
According to Variety, Trachtenberg had recently been undergoing a liver transplant. While the exact cause of death has yet to be confirmed, the NYPD ruled out any criminal involvement.
In a statement, NYPD officials shared that emergency medical responders pronounced her dead at the scene after responding to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. Her publicist, Gary Mantoosh, also issued a statement: “It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away. The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time.”
Born on October 11, 1985, in New York, Trachtenberg began her acting career early, appearing in commercials at just three years old. She later landed her first TV project with Nickelodeon’s The Adventures of Pete & Pete in the mid-1990s. Her breakthrough came when she played Dawn Summers in the iconic teen drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer, joining the show in its fifth season and staying until its conclusion in 2003.