Sarah Michelle Gellar marks Michelle Trachtenberg’s birthday after death

Sarah Michelle Gellar shared a touching birthday message with him Buffy the Vampire Slayer sister, Michelle Trachtenberg.

“When you turned 16, it was hard to no longer see you as the little girl I met All my children. When you turned 21, I had to teach myself to stop seeing you as the little sister,” Gellar, 48, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, October 11, alongside throwbacks. Buffy images of the two actresses. “I can’t imagine what 40 would have been like.”

She continued: “I know it…it would be full of love. Happy birthday @michelletrachtenberg.”

Gellar put his message at Charlie Puth And Wiz KhalifaThe equally moving duet of “See You Again”.

Gellar and Trachtenberg first met when they both starred in All my children in the early 1990s. Years later, they found themselves on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gellar played the role of the titular Buffy, while Trachtenberg played Buffy’s younger sister and a magical key, Dawn.

Us every week confirmed in February that Trachtenberg had died at the age of 39.

“It is with great sadness to confirm the passing of Michelle Trachtenberg,” said a representative of the Gossip Girl former student said We in a statement at the time. “The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time.”

Trachtenberg is survived by her parents, her sister and her boyfriend, a talent agent Jay Cohen. The cause of his death was later ruled to be complications of diabetes mellitus.

Shortly after news of Trachtenberg’s death broke, Gellar was among the stars to share condolences.

“‘Michelle, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you,'” Gellar wrote via Instagram that month, quoting one of Buffy’s lines before sharing what Trachtenberg said in the musical episode. “The hardest thing in this world is living in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you.” 💔💔💔🗝️.”

Just weeks before Trachtenberg’s death, Gellar had confirmed his involvement in a new Buffy restart.

“It’s incredibly emotionally upsetting,” Gellar said later. Us every week exclusively in August returning to her role as a teenager. “It’s just a place I didn’t think I’d find myself. Even though it was new, it was also incredibly familiar, and I feel very lucky.”

Although few details on the new Buffy were revealed, a logline described the project as the “next chapter of the Buffyverse” featuring a new Slayer played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong. Gellar, for her part, is expected to serve as executive producer and will have a recurring on-screen role.

“All I can say is the same thing I tell everyone: We’re doing it slowly and carefully because there’s no point in doing it if we can’t do it right,” she said. We. “So we’re going to make sure that everything is in place before it becomes something that we’re ready to share.”

Gellar further stated that the revival “won’t change anything about the DNA of the series.”

“I mean, to me, Buffy was about your found family,” Gellar added. “I think now more than ever, starting a family is extremely important. We all need a place where we feel like we can be ourselves and be honored to be ourselves and loved for who we are. And to me, that’s the point.”

It is not yet known whether the new series will pay homage to The Dawn of Trachtenberg.