Screenplays, true crime, and a Gossip Girl reboot — Michelle Trachtenberg made Georgina Sparks one of the most memorable characters on Gossip Girl, but how memorable have her roles been in the years since?
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00:00Screenplays, true crime, and a Gossip Girl reboot, Michelle Trachtenberg made Georgina
00:06Sparks one of the most memorable characters on Gossip Girl. But how memorable have her
00:10roles been in the years since?
00:13After appearing in a supporting role on Gossip Girl, Michelle Trachtenberg had her sights
00:16set on a new kind of part. She wanted to star in her own TV show. In 2010, Vulture reported
00:22that the production team behind Gossip Girl was also working on producing a new CW drama
00:27for Trachtenberg. The actor was set to star as a criminology student with a complicated
00:31past and an uncanny talent for profiling suspects. In fact, she'd pitched the idea for the show
00:37herself, so in addition to starring, she was also going to serve as a producer.
00:41Originally, the show was supposed to begin airing with hour-long episodes in the fall
00:45of 2011. This would have represented a big step forward in Trachtenberg's career. But
00:50like so many other interesting series that never see the light of day, the pilot was
00:54simply never picked up.
00:57You might wonder why Michelle Trachtenberg's more recent films haven't gotten the same
01:00attention as some of her earlier projects. Well, unfortunately, her subsequent projects
01:04just haven't earned many positive reviews. In 2014, Trachtenberg appeared in The Scribbler,
01:10which told the story of a woman who attempts to eliminate her multiple personalities through
01:14a risky experimental process. But this comic book adaptation fell flat, with critics panning
01:18the film. In 2015, Trachtenberg played a curious reporter in The Christmas Gift who tries to
01:24track down a stranger who unknowingly changed her life after sending an anonymous present.
01:28And I have you to thank for all of this.
01:31Unfortunately, The Christmas Gift didn't make much of an impression on critics, either,
01:35and for a couple of years, it seemed like Trachtenberg was struggling to find roles
01:38that truly suited her.
01:40In 2015, Trachtenberg took on a starring role in the web series Guidance, which was hosted
01:45on Verizon's mobile video streaming platform, Go90. In the show, Trachtenberg played Anna,
01:50a guidance counselor, who tries to help one of her students investigate the source of
01:54some scandalous photos.
01:56But if you talk to me, I can help you.
01:59Why would you help me?
02:01Trachtenberg only appeared in the first season of the series, as each season featured a new
02:04cast of characters dealing with different issues. Ultimately, Guidance was canceled
02:08after three seasons. The short episodes just didn't pack enough punch into a few minutes,
02:13and critics and audiences felt relatively neutral about the series. In addition, the
02:17streaming platform ended up folding, too, as there just wasn't enough interest in the
02:21Go90 offerings.
02:23While Trachtenberg did have some frustrating experiences working in TV throughout her career,
02:28she's returned to the small screen plenty of times to appear as a guest on shows that
02:32she loves. Over the past few years, she's popped up in episodes of Criminal Minds and
02:36Sleepy Hollow. Trachtenberg was especially excited about getting the chance to play Abigail
02:41Adams on Sleepy Hollow. Before her episode even aired, she hinted that it was possible
02:45that her character might return, explaining that she'd discussed the prospect of coming
02:49back with executive producer Len Wiseman. But in the end, none of these guest appearances
02:54have led to long-term or even recurring roles on these shows for Trachtenberg.
02:59In 2016, Trachtenberg had a starring role as Dallas Baxter in the Lifetime movie Sister
03:04Cities. Based on the play by Colette Friedman, the plot follows Dallas and her three sisters,
03:09who've been estranged for years until their mother's sudden death brings them together
03:12once again. Now the four sisters have to untangle their past and investigate the strange
03:17circumstances surrounding their mom's death. The result is a family drama and a mystery
03:21wrapped into one, making for a suspenseful narrative, but one that kinda just faded away.
03:33Granted, Sister Cities got a positive response from audiences, but despite the glowing reception
03:38from viewers, the movie didn't get much buzz amongst critics. Those that did take note
03:43of the film generally enjoyed it, with reviewer Virginia DeBolt declaring it an all-star movie
03:47and critic David Dupre describing it as a, quote, tragic, unexpected, and moving journey.
03:53Perhaps it flew under the radar simply because it was a made-for-TV movie, but whatever the
03:57reason, it didn't do much for Trachtenberg's career.
04:01Although Trachtenberg has always been passionate about acting, she's also interested in working
04:05in other roles in Hollywood. As it turns out, she's actually written several screenplays.
04:10Trachtenberg told Entertainment Weekly in 2017 that she was working on two projects
04:14that she was particularly passionate about. One was a period piece that started out in
04:18the 1950s but spanned about a 30-year period, which Trachtenberg said was based on a true
04:23story. The other told the story of an accessories editor who always wanted to be a writer. Neither
04:28screenplay made it to the big screen, however.
04:31In 2018, Trachtenberg lent her voice to the Facebook web series, Human Kind Of. Here,
04:36she played Judy Riley, an awkward teenager who discovers the unexpected reason she's
04:40always felt so out of place. It turns out that her estranged father was actually an
04:45extraterrestrial. Judy has no idea how she's going to navigate life as a half-human, half-alien
04:50teenager.
04:51I'm half-alien. I found out the other day.
04:53But her optimistic mother and her best friend have her back, and as the series progresses,
04:58she learns to embrace both sides of her personality and everything that makes her unique. Each
05:02episode ran about five minutes, making for an easy and entertaining watch. Human Kind
05:07Of did earn decent reviews, but unfortunately, the series turned out to be short-lived, as
05:12it only lasted for a single season. While Trachtenberg has definitely shown her willingness
05:16to think outside the box by taking on projects like this, it hasn't necessarily translated
05:20to mainstream attention.
05:23After Human Kind Of wrapped in 2018, Trachtenberg appeared to go on hiatus from acting for several
05:29years. That streak remained unbroken until she reprised Georgina Sparks in the Gossip
05:32Girl reboot. But Trachtenberg remained busy in a different capacity between gigs. She
05:37teased an upcoming project on her social media account before revealing on Instagram in 2021
05:42that she would serve as both host and executive producer of a true crime series. The show
05:46Meet Mary Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg covered tragic love stories that led to murder
05:51and aired on Tubi in 2021.
05:54In the woods of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Terry O'Donnell is searching for signs of
06:00her ex-boyfriend Chris Regan."
06:02A similar series titled Meet Mary Murder and produced in part by Lifetime aired one year
06:06prior to Trachtenberg's show, but is unrelated beyond the subject matter and title. The Trachtenberg
06:12Meet Mary Murder appears to have been snuffed out after a single 13-episode season.
06:18Trachtenberg's Georgina Sparks was a particularly malevolent member of the Upper East Side's
06:22elite who stirs up trouble every time she turns up in New York City. Georgina is a textbook
06:27example of a TV character you love to hate. She promises total and delicious chaos every
06:32time she appears on screen. And to the delight of Gossip Girl fans everywhere, Trachtenberg
06:36reprised Georgina in Season 2 of the series reboot on HBO Max. In typical fashion, she
06:41raises havoc in her two appearances on the series, abducting Kate Keller and blackmailing
06:46her into assisting in her plan to upend Max's dad's wedding vow renewal.
06:50You have 24 hours to turn up the heat, or else I'm taking control permanently."
06:55Unfortunately, Trachtenberg — who was the sole on-screen original cast member to return
07:00for the reboot — wasn't able to spread more misery as Georgina, in subsequent episodes,
07:04thwarted in her attempt to push Kate into even more diabolical schemes. Georgina disappears
07:09from the series in Episode 7 of Season 2. The series itself was canceled in 2023,
07:14ending Trachtenberg's brief but memorable return.
07:17Sadly, one of Michelle Trachtenberg's best-known roles, Dawn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
07:22was tainted with scandal when allegations of on-set misconduct and harassment by Joss Whedon
07:27began surfacing between 2020 and 2021. Co-star Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase
07:33on Buffy and spinoff Angel, made statements on social media about Whedon's allegedly abusive
07:39statements and behavior toward her. Trachtenberg added her own alleged experience with the writer-
07:44producer by commenting on a post by Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar,
07:47who offered her support to survivors of abuse. Trachtenberg wrote on Instagram,
07:52"...I am brave enough now as a 35-year-old woman to repost this, because this must
07:57be known. As a teenager, with his not-appropriate behavior, very not-appropriate."
08:02Trachtenberg later updated her post to include a note specifically calling Whedon out.
08:07There was a rule, saying,
08:08"...he's not allowed in a room alone with Michelle again."
08:12At the time she appeared on the series from 2000 to 2003, Trachtenberg was a teenager. She
08:17concluded the post by stating that she would not comment on the allegations against Whedon again.
08:23Michelle Trachtenberg returned to the media cycle in 2023, albeit for reasons she probably
08:27would have preferred to avoid. Selfies posted to her Instagram page generated unwelcome comments
08:32by fans and observers, who opined without proof that she appeared to be either unwell
08:37or exhibiting the fallout from plastic surgery procedures. In a photo posted as part of a
08:42challenge by a friend to make a selfie without makeup public, Trachtenberg wrote,
08:46"...saying still before any fake comment is so pathetic,
08:49I'm 38 years old and grateful. Get a calendar."
08:53Some of the comments Trachtenberg received bordered on abusive,
08:56and suggested that she was hiding a serious illness. The actor pushed back against the
09:00hurtful allegations in a later post, writing,
09:02Fun fact, this is my face. Not malnutrition, no problems. Why do you have to hate?"