According to the New York Post, actress Michelle Trachtenberg, who is well-known to the audience for the American TV series "Gossip Girl", was found dead by her mother in her New York apartment on February 26, local time. She was only 39 years old. At present, the New York police have not announced her specific cause of death, but believe that it was a natural death rather than an external attack. Other media disclosed that Trachtenberg recently underwent a liver transplant and she unfortunately died of complications caused by the operation.

Stills from the old Gossip Girl Season 1 (2007)

Michelle Trachtenberg was born in New York to a Jewish immigrant family, her mother is from Russia. Since she was a child, she has appeared on the TV screen as a child star, and has appeared in many popular TV series such as "Law and Order", "Clarissa Knows Everything", "The Adventures of Pete and Pete", "All My Children", etc. At the age of 10, she played the leading role for the first time in the movie "Little Spies" broadcasted on Nickelodeon, and acted on the same stage with veteran actors such as Rosie O'Donnell and Eartha Kitt without stage fright.

The first important role that Michelle Trachtenberg received as an adult was to work with her "old colleague" Sarah Michelle Gellar in "All My Children" again, playing her sister in the American TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and appeared in the last three seasons. After that, she moved from the TV screen to the big screen, starring in films such as "Mysterious Skin", "Sex Trip to Europe", and "The Snow Queen", but compared with Scarlett Johansson, who debuted as a child star at almost the same time, she still lacked a representative work that could make the industry take notice of her.

Still from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 (2001)

Still from "Snow Queen" (2005)

In 2007, Michelle Trachtenberg's acting career finally took off. She played the villain Georgina Sparks in the hit series "Gossip Girl" launched by CW TV. In this series, which focuses on the love affairs of young men and women in Manhattan's upper class, Trachtenberg plays the socialite Georgina, who has a strong desire for control and is keen to interfere in the love relationships of people around her. Therefore, she is nicknamed "Troublemaker" by Chinese drama fans. Although she is obviously a villain, Trachtenberg gave this character a charm that is difficult to distinguish between scheming and innocence, which won the love of many audiences.

"It's actually very enjoyable to play a villain," she once told Seventeen magazine. "It's much more fun to say harsh words and do evil things than to be a good girl. Moreover, I like to see the audience's reaction to this kind of role. I have never understood why some actors just don't want to play villains or evil people."

However, in reality, Trachtenberg is a victim of school bullying. She revealed in an interview: "At school, girls are mean to me, and boys won't ask me out. I'm always afraid to go back to school because I know I'll have to face a lot of mean kids." She also revealed on her personal social media account that she has scars from bullying such as being thrown down the stairs and hitting her head against a locker. She also encouraged bullied teenagers to fight back and not fall into self-doubt: "You are important. Your value is not defined by others. Not letting the evil succeed is victory."

During the filming of "Gossip Girl", Michelle Trachtenberg also starred in the comedy "17 Again", playing the protagonist's rebellious daughter. However, after the end of "Gossip Girl", she has not received any influential works. In 2021, HBO rebooted "Gossip Girl", and Trachtenberg also returned in the second season, playing Georgina again, which is also her last image on the screen.

Stills from 17 Again (2009)

Stills from the new Gossip Girl Season 2 (2022)

At the beginning of last year, Michelle Trachtenberg, who had not appeared in the media for a long time, unexpectedly became the focus. The reason was that a large number of netizens questioned her failed plastic surgery, which led to a drastic change in her appearance. Facing this round of cyberbullying, Trachtenberg said on social media that she is now 38 years old, not 14 years old. "This is my face. It's not malnutrition, there is no problem. Why do you hate me? Go buy a calendar." Later, she published a second post to fight back against the malicious comments: "I have never had plastic surgery, I am happy and healthy. Keyboard warriors who hate me, mind your own business."

Michelle Trachtenberg hits back at criticism over her changing appearance

After the news of Michelle Trachtenberg's death came out, her former partners spoke out to express their nostalgia for her. Bronwyn Hughes, the director of "Little Spies," wrote: "She had her own beliefs as if she was integrated with the protagonist Harley. Michelle had an innate acting gene, which can't be taught and is very rare."

Several protagonists of "Gossip Girl" also posted articles to recall the moments they had with her in the past. Blake Lively, who played the protagonist Selina, shared a photo of the first meeting between the two on her personal social media and posted a long article to mourn: "As soon as she walked into the room, you could feel the whole atmosphere change. She would put 200% of her energy into everything. She often laughed the happiest when others told jokes. When she noticed injustice, she dared to face authority. She also cared a lot about acting and was proud to be a member of this industry, even though the work might be painful sometimes. She was very loyal to her friends and fearless for the ones she loved. She always wore nice caramel lip gloss, because she not only wanted to shine in front of the camera, but also liked to create a wonderful experience for everyone she met on the track of life, so she didn't even let go of the subtle smell of the lip gloss. She just cared about these sweet details."

Blake Lively shared a photo of the two meeting for the first time on her personal social media.