Posted in: CW, streaming, TV | Tagged: angel, buffy the vampire slayer

Buffy: Boreanaz, Marsters Honor "Beautiful Soul" Michelle Trachtenberg

David Boreanaz and James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel) honored the memory of Michelle Trachtenberg, who passed away at age 39.

Earlier today, the news broke that Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl) had passed away at the age of 39. "It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away. The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time," a representative for the family shared. For BTVS fans, Trachtenberg will always be Dawn Summers – Buffy Summers' (Sarah Michelle Gellar) "sister." Over the course of her run on the show, Trachtenberg embued in Dawn a diversity of feelings and emotions that made the character quickly feel as if she had been part of the "Scooby Gang" since day one. Now, we're hearing from two BTVS universe members, David Boreanaz and James Marsters – with both actors taking to social media to express their feelings about Trachtenberg's passing.

Here's a look at what Boreanaz posted earlier today on Instagram Stories, followed by the full text and a look at Marsters' Instagram post

"My heart is heavy today. We have lost a beautiful soul. Michelle was fiercely intelligent, howlingly funny, and a very talented person. She died much too young, and leaves behind scores of people who knew and loved her," Marsters wrote in his Instagram post, which also included an image of Marsters and Trachtenberg. "My heart goes out to her family, who are good people and are suffering the greatest loss anyone could bear. I hope everyone can give them space to heal in this most difficult time. Godspeed Michelle. You are missed."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Michelle Trachtenberg on Dawn's Development

"I was introduced to the show like, 'Boom, here I am!' Take it or leave it, and I hope you take it," Trachtenberg shared with the BBC during a 2014 interview, explaining how she was introduced to the character of Dawn Summers and how she developed the role. "Dawn was introduced as Buffy's sister, and she's just a regular teenage girl, she has her opinions on the world and all that. I never like to think ahead to the end of the season, 'Oh, will I be coming back,' because if you're thinking too much about the technicalities of what you do, you can't really put all the creative ingredients into what you're doing now. That was a big thing for me especially playing Dawn, because I didn't know that much about her at all."

After meeting with the series creator, Trachtenberg realized that she would be carrying the weight when it came to fleshing out Dawn. Thankfully, being a fan of the series made the process easier for her. "What really helped and was very lucky was the fact that I was such a huge fan of the show that I understood how things were going to play out. Not that I knew what was going to happen during the course of the season, but I could guess," Trachtenberg shared. "It was really interesting to see all the hardships Dawn goes through, because even though she has this secret, she still has to play out her life like a regular teenage girl. She has to go to school, she has to do her chores and homework, she has to keep her room clean."

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