ACTOR
Michelle Trachtenberg
27 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (27)
- #001
Michelle Trachtenberg was Catherine Hardwicke's first choice to play the role of "Bella Swan" (the director of Twilight (2008)). However, she was unable to take the role due to scheduling conflicts.
- #002
In the mid-90s, before Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), she worked with Sarah Michelle Gellar on the long-running All My Children (1970), and they were good friends. It was Sarah who suggested Michelle for the role of "Dawn."
- #003
She took ballet training as a child, which helped her perfect her skating skills for Ice Princess (2005).
- #004
She spoke the final line of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997).
- #005
Shortly before her death, she had a liver transplant.
- #006
When the series ended, she managed to steal a souvenir from the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) — a wooden stake.
- #007
Her hobbies included swimming, ice skating and writing poetry.
- #008
She was good friends with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) star Seth Green.
- #009
Long before she was cast as "Dawn Summers," she was a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997).
- #010
In 2012, she made a public service announcement against bullying. It was made alongside the premiere of the film Bully (2011).
- #011
She was of German and Russian Jewish descent.
- #012
She attended Notre Dame High School. She graduated with honors in Social Sciences and Religion and was also awarded the California Scholarship Federation.
- #013
She was submitted for Emmy consideration for her guest role on the series House (2004).
- #014
For elementary school, she attended Isaac Asimov Public School 99.
- #015
She grew up in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn.
- #016
Michelle collected Barbies and had more than 50 of them.
- #017
She spent the summer of 2005 as an unpaid apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.
- #018
Her grandparents live in Israel.
- #019
Michelle appeared in a Kohl's commercial alongside Hilary Duff.
- #020
In 2023, she took on a voice role in Apple TV's animated series adaptation of Harriet the Spy.
- #021
Michelle Trachtenberg helped launch President Bill Clinton's Coalition for a Drug-Free America campaign.
- #022
She took part in a golf tournament in Jamaica hosted by Carmen Electra.
- #023
She attended Bay Academy Junior High School in Brooklyn, New York.
- #024
She ranked 86th on Maxim magazine's 2007 Hot 100 list.
- #025
She ranked 27th on Maxim's 2011 "Hot 100" list.
- #026
Black Christmas (2006) was filmed in Vancouver, Canada.
- #027
Michelle Trachtenberg died exactly 487 days — 1 year, 3 months and 29 days — after Matthew Perry, who played her father on screen.
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