Michelle Trachtenberg

Date of Birth
11 October 1985, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name
Michelle Christine Trachtenberg

Nickname
Mitchie

Height
5' 7½" (1.71 m)

Trivia
She worked with Sarah Michelle Gellar on the long running "All My Children" (1970) in unknown episodes in the mid-1990s before "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) and they were good friends. Sarah was the one who recommended Michelle for the part of "Dawn".

She grew up in New York but moved to LA three years ago with her mom. Her dad still lives in New York. Her sister Irene recently graduated from college.

Appeared at the Xcel Center at a Sci-fi expo alongside Kristine Sutherland (May 2002)

Said the last line ever in the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) series.

She loves to play tennis.

She helped President Bill Clinton launch The Coalition for a Drug Free America campaign.

Attended Notre Dame High School. She graduated with awards in Social Studies and Religion and was also named under the California Scholarship Federation.

Attended Bay Academy Junior High School in Brooklyn, New York

Speaks Russian.

Her birthday is also the wedding anniversary of her "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) cast mate Alyson Hannigan (Willow) and "Angel" (1999)'s Alexis Denisof (Wesley).

Was able to sneak a souvenir from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) set when the show ended, a wooden stake.

Studied ballet as a child, which helped her perfect her skating abilities for Ice Princess (2005).

Is of Russian Jewish and German descent.

Participated in the golf tournament in Jamaica hosted by Carmen Electra.

Hobbies: Swimming, ice skating, writing poems.

Attended Isaac Asimov Public School 99 for elementary school.

Has an older sister Irene, b. 1978

Spent the summer of 2005 as a non-paid apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.

Has separately played the daughter of both actors who played the young married couple Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder in "Little House on the Prairie" (1974). She played Melissa Gilbert's daughter in Christmas in My Hometown (1996) (TV) and played Dean Butler's daughter in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997).

Was submitted for Emmy consideration for her guest-starring role on "House M.D." (2004).

Her grandparents live in Israel.

Ranked #86 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.

Shares a birthday with actress Emily Deschanel, Stephen Moyer and Joan Cusack.

Also attended PS 188 throughout Kindergarten. Was in the Gifted and Talented program with teacher Mrs. Gomez.


Personal Quotes
I love gardening. I think it's very therapeutic when you're having a bad day.

[On being involved in a Buffy spin-off] "I didn't see myself continuing as Dawn because I like to have diversity in my roles. A lot of people are like: "Oh my God! Little Dawn grew up!" And as much as I love you guys, suck it up."

[On why she chose not to continue her role as Dawn Summers] "I felt like every year, my character got younger as I got older. The scripts even had me speaking grammatically incorrectly. So I had to do something else. Besides, the show is over. If you miss it, get the DVDs."

[on the future of Buffy] I'm sure that in some way, shape or form "Buffy" will be continued or the story, through the fans, because we do have such devoted fans and that's always been very sweet.

One day I'd like to win an Oscar. But, I tell my mom if I ever get to be rude and demanding to let me know and I'll stop it. I don't want to be an actor like that.

My confidence comes from me, Michelle, as a person. I don't necessarily believe that I will act and be a lead forever, but I want to continue to act for a long time. I love to do what I do.

"A fashion editor at Vogue, that would be awesome." (On her dream job)

Anything you throw at me, I'll try to tackle.

I adore London and Paris, and I hope to live in London for a period of time when I'm older.

I love tennis. I tried gymnastics at one point, but my tush got a whole lot of black and blue so that wasn't fun.

Show off my decolletage. -- on what she does to "instantly feel sexy"

I love Rag & Bone. They're pretty fantastic. Marc Jacobs has been a friend of mine for years, and I adore him. I like Chloe. I like a lot of younger designers. -- on her favorite designers

... I think I did a head-to-toe leopard ensemble once, when I was 10. I think animal print should be taken in moderation. A shoe or a scarf is fine. -- on any past red carpet regrets

I think it's much harder in New York. There are paparazzi on bicycles, which is a new thing. You can't really speed away in your car. Especially with Gossip Girl being such a New York-based show, it's harder. I tried my hand at going to Bed, Bath & Beyond the other day, which I love, and that was a little bit of a catastrophe. I caused a little bit of a scene. That would be the only time that I'm a little shy. -- on if it's easier to be unrecognized in New York

I'm a downtown girl. I would love to give you restaurants, but then you'd know about them and we couldn't go there anymore. Leighton Meester and I like to go to hole-in-the-walls that no one would ever expect us to go to, and no one cares that we're in there. We do that often. -- on favorite places in New York

I think life is like high school. I don't necessarily know that it pertains to Gossip Girl because that is obviously an extreme fabrication of the most glorious life. But, I do think that life, in general, is definitely like high school and you never get out of it. You just have to stay strong. -- on if life is like "Gossip Girl"

Probably just that laughter is the best thing. It's not about seeking revenge on that person. It's not letting them get away with it and not letting them get their high off of seeing you miserable. Laugh with them. -- on how to deal with embarrassment

I'm the last person to ask about dealing with stress. I'm always the biggest stress ball. But, I don't stop moving and I never let my Blackberry leave my hand, so I'm getting a lot of thumb exercise. It's great. -- on how she deals with stress

I've been drinking from the fountain of youth, so my face remains the same. Actually, one of our very first days of shooting, Gail Berman, who I have known for almost 10 years now, from Buffy, said that if we put a split screen of my face from the first episode of Buffy up next to the Mercy pilot, it's the same. I might have just gotten paler. I don't go out in the sun. I think there's a huge difference between the two characters, in the sense that Chloe is an adult. She's not a child, by any means. She went through nursing school. She has her master's degree. She has all of the credentials. She is a nurse and an adult, in every sense of those words. For me, I'm not shy or quiet. It's interesting for me to play someone who is such the opposite from myself because it's more challenging to keep that realistic. I also think that so many young women in the world are scared of the circumstances that they're in and are very insecure about different experiences that they may have, and I love being that character for women to say, "Yes, Chloe is scared." She's worried that she is literally going to kill someone, but there's optimism there. She can do it. So, I don't think of her as a child, or as annoying or whiney. I think she's just open to the world and looking to her colleagues to steer her. She has such great respect and admiration because they know what they're doing. So, between the three of us and the different personalities that we have, we're going to cater to every single woman watching the show, or that's what we hope. -- the differences between the character Dawn on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the character Chloe on "Mercy" and on playing young and/or naive characters

Every girl likes a bad boy but the bad boy has to have a sensitive side - that makes a fantastic man. But I like an older man...

It's super fun to play the bad girl. I love bringing out the inner nasty. ... Every woman secretly has an inner bitch deep down inside - including myself. But with the scenarios that Georgina is in and the lines from the script, the evil naturally comes out and flows really well for me. I don't take the nastiness off set, but sometimes when the paparazzi get in my face, Georgina comes out. -- on her character Georgina Sparks in "Gossip Girl"


Where Are They Now
(September 2002) A senior at Notre Dame high school in Sherman Oaks, California

(April 2004) Filming the Disney movie Ice Princess (2005) in Toronto, Canada.

(February 2006) Filming Black Christmas (2006), in Vancouver, Canada.