Sarah Michelle Gellar is paying tribute to her former co-star.
After Michelle Trachtenberg’s tragic death on Wednesday at age 39, the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” alum shared a heartfelt message.
“Michelle, listen to me,” Gellar, 47, captioned her Thursday Instagram post. “Listen. I love you. I will always love you. The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live … for you.”
Michelle Trachtenberg and Sarah Michelle Gellar in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” 20th Century Fox
Michelle Trachtenberg and Sarah Michelle Gellar smile together in a pic from the 2000s. sarahmichellegellar/InstagramGellar’s Buffy Summers said those words to her sister Dawn Summers (Trachtenberg) in the 2001 episode titled “The Gift.”
Trachtenberg starred on the hit show from 2000 to 2003.
Alongside the sweet sentiment, the “Dexter: Original Sin” star shared a slew of photos of the pair from the 2000s. A final image showed Gellar, Trachtenberg and Shannon Doherty, who died in July at 53 after a yearslong battle with breast cancer.
Trachtenberg was found by her mother around 8 a.m. Wednesday at One Columbus Place, a luxury apartment complex in Manhattan, per insiders.
Michelle Trachtenberg and Sarah Michelle Gellar during their time on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Michelle Trachtenberg/InstagramAccording to sources, she had undergone a liver transplant within the last year, but her body may have rejected the organ.
“It is with great sadness we confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away. The family requests privacy for their loss,” Trachtenberg’s representative, Gary Mantoosh, said in a statement.
The NYPD confirmed the “Ice Princess” star was found “unconscious and unresponsive” by police and pronounced dead by EMS workers. Her death is not deemed suspicious.
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg in Season 5 of “Buffy.” ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michelle Trachtenberg at the 2001 Teen Choice Awards. WireImageIn 2022, Trachtenberg gushed over playing the role of Dawn alongside Gellar on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
“It is actually my most favorite character,” she told “Access Hollywood” at the time. “What I respect is the fans. I have heard about a reboot but I hope that it honors what the fans love.”
“I wish I stole more things from the magic shop,” she teased to Entertainment Tonight a year prior in 2021.
Actresses Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michelle Trachtenberg arrive at the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reunion. WireImage
Michelle Trachtenberg, Sarah Michelle Gellar in Season 5 of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett CollectionTrachtenberg played iconic characters since childhood, making her film debut in “Harriet the Spy” in 1996 at just 10 years old.
Reflecting over her impressive body of work, she told the outlet, “I turned 10 years old on the first day of principal photography, which was 1995. Rosie [O’Donnell] was my biggest supporter. She protected me so much.”
O’Donnell, 62, also paid tribute following Trachtenberg’s death.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michelle Trachtenberg during the 2001 Teen Choice Awards. WireImage“I loved her very much,” she said in a statement to Us Weekly. “She struggled the last few years.”
The actress added, “I wish I could have helped.”
