Ever since she was a kid, Michelle Trachtenberg has been making her mark as a wide variety of memorable characters. As a 10-year-old, she starred in the movie Harriet the Spy as the titular child snoop and writer. As a teenager, she played Buffy's sister, Dawn Summers, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then, in her 20s, Trachtenberg won over Gossip Girl fans as the conniving Georgina Sparks.
Now, Trachtenberg is 36, and after a short acting hiatus, it looks like she's getting ready to reprise one of her most famous roles. Read on to find out more about the actor's life and career today.
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She continued acting as an adult.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesTrachtenberg got her start as a child star a few years before Harriet the Spy premiered in 1996. She was on episodes of Law & Order and All My Children before she landed a recurring role on Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete. She's been acting consistently ever since, with more recent roles including the TV movie The Christmas Gift, the series Guidance, and a voice role on the 2018 Facebook Watch show Human Kind Of.
She's also a TV host.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesWhile she hasn't been acting on TV in the past few years, Trachtenberg has still been appearing on screen. In 2021, Trachtenberg hosted the true crime series Meet, Marry, Murder on Tubi. "We are honoring the memories and lives of the people lost," she told Entertainment Tonight of the show. "And I would absolutely love people to be watching it on Tubi, because I myself am an extreme true crime fan."
She's teased a return to an iconic role.
Ga Fullner / ShutterstockIt looks like Georgina Sparks is about to drop back into the lives of the Upper East Side's finest. When the Gossip Girl revival premiered in 2021, Georgina was mentioned, and the character's son was featured, though Trachtenberg didn't appear. Now, it looks like the actor is going to reprise her role from the original series on the seconds season of the new show.
On June 22, the Gossip Girl Twitter account posted a video of that appears to be Trachtenberg in character as Georgina with the caption, "It only takes one spark..." Meanwhile, Trachtenberg has been posting Instagrams of her working an unspecified job, including a post of her trying on a dress with the caption, "Back in the #newyork groove." Gossip Girl is set in New York City.
She's in a relationship.
In October 2020, it was reported that Trachtenberg was in a relationship with her talent agent, Jay Cohen. A source told Us Weekly, that the two had been dating for over a year at that point. Trachtenberg posted about Cohen on Instagram as recently as Valentine's Day this year.
"I think we both agree I'm the better half. Hope everyone had a lovely day with your human," she wrote next to a photo of herself and Cohen with him mostly cropped out.
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She's proud of Harriet the Spy's influence.
In a 2021 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Trachtenberg looked back on her biggest roles and got emotional when talking about Harriet the Spy.
"Rosie was my biggest supporter," she said of co-star Rosie O'Donnell. "There was a lot required of me. I’m extremely grateful for the experience. What I'm more grateful for is people, when I do look at social media—which is challenging—them coming in with, 'You inspired my life,' 'You made me become a writer,' all of those just beautiful things." She added, "I still have the striped T-shirt the I auditioned with in a memory box."
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