Michelle Trachtenberg Is Honored at Screening for Her Final FilmSpyral: 'We All Had to Wipe Away the Tears'

Mar. 15, 2025

Michelle Trachtenberg.Photo:John Salangsang/Variety/Penske Media via Getty

John Salangsang/Variety/Penske Media via Getty

Michelle Trachtenbergis being remembered for her incredible talent and dedication.

On March 12, the late actress was honored with a moving tribute at a screening of her final film,Spyral, in Austin, Texas. Before the film debuted on screen, producerJennifer Hutchinsmade a poignant speech about working with Trachtenberg and how her performance impacted the cast before heruntimely death.

“I had the pleasure to work with Michelle onSpyral. I never thought…,” Hutchins said before taking a moment to compose herself. “I never thought when I would start this journey that this film would become her last film.”

Michelle Trachtenberg.Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

She explained she wants the focus to be on remembering Trachtenberg’s work in making “a difference with mental health awareness.”

“She voiced over Michelle Cody White, whose life story, the movieSpyralis about. And being in the room with her, she became Michelle Cody White,” Hutchins recalled. “We all had to take breaks, we all had to wipe away the tears, and you can hear her breath, you can hear the shakes as she’s reading very intimate letters, diaries and journals from Michelle Cody White.”

Michelle Trachtenberg.JC Olivera/WireImage

JC Olivera/WireImage

Before the screening began, the producer warned the audience that the subject matter could be “very triggering for some” and confessed that the film was a “hard movie to watch.”

“Before we do this, we are going to do a 45-second silence for Michelle,” she concluded.

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Trachtenberg completed her voice work forSpyralin 2021, which included reading from the diary of filmmaker Randall White’s wife Michelle Cody White, who had undiagnosed bipolar depression before her death. The release of the film was delayed to last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the filmmakers are now hoping to find a wide distribution deal.

Trachtenberg — who recently hadundergone a liver transplantprocedure — wasfound dead in New York Cityon Wednesday, Feb. 26. The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE on Feb. 27 that the actress' familyobjected to an autopsy, meaning that her cause of death would be ruled as “undetermined.”

Kristen O’Brien

source: people.com