Sarah Michelle Gellar has moved fans to tears with her message marking late co-star Michelle Trachtenberg’s 40th birthday.
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor, who played Buffy’s sister Dawn in the hit ’90s fantasy show, died aged 39 in February this year in her apartment in New York due to complications from diabetes mellitus.
Eight months on, her onscreen sister Gellar has marked her milestone 40th birthday with a bittersweet Instagram post.
The social media post contained a short clip of Buffy and Dawn embracing on the show to the backing track of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s See You Again.
Meanwhile, the heartfelt caption reads: ‘When you turned 16, it was hard not to still see you as the little girl I met on All My Children.
‘When you turned 21, I had to teach myself to not see you as the little sister anymore. I can’t imagine what 40 would have been like. This I know… it would be filled with love. Happy birthday.’
Fans were quick to celebrate the special date in the comments and praise the actor for her lovely words.
‘Happy birthday to Michelle. She is missed by an entire generation,’ @lilitotoro said.
‘Everybody is always thinking about the Gossip Girl cast when they think of Michelle but I always think of the Buffy cast, especially you y’all literally played sisters and had such a real, emotional bond on screen, it still feels so special to this day. Happy heavenly birthday Michelle,’ mmlkzjs shared.
‘All Buffy fans are hugging you and one another right now,’ ezemedana added.
‘This made me tear up, beautiful,’ marlondscott said.
‘Beautiful tribute. Even though it was a TV show, your love for her showed in your expressions. Hoping Michelle is having the best heavenly birthday,’ stergasa agreed.
Outside of her role in Buffy, Tratchenberg was also known for starring in Gossip Girl, as well as Harriet the Spy, Ice Princess and Inspector Gadget – to name a few.
At the time of her death, tributes flooded from former co-stars across the board, including Blake Lively, Ed Westwick, Alyson Hannigan and Kim Cattrall.
Gellar’s latest words echo her heartfelt tribute from earlier this year in which she shared a series of throwback photos of the pair together.
She recalled an interaction between their characters in her caption, writing: ‘Michelle, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you.’
Elsewhere, in her tribute Lively wrote about the star: ‘She laughed the fullest at someone’s joke, she faced authority head on when she felt something was wrong, she cared deeply about her work, she was proud to be a part of this community and industry as painful as it could be sometimes, she was fiercely loyal to her friends and brave for those she loved, she was big and bold and distinctly herself.’
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