{"id":156774,"date":"2025-03-19T08:13:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T08:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/mara-wilson-recalls-michelle-tractenberg-being-bullied-as-a-teen\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T08:13:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T08:13:42","slug":"mara-wilson-recalls-michelle-tractenberg-being-bullied-as-a-teen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/mara-wilson-recalls-michelle-tractenberg-being-bullied-as-a-teen\/","title":{"rendered":"Mara Wilson Recalls Michelle Tractenberg Being Bullied as a Teen"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Mara Wilson<\/strong><\/a> is remembering her friend, the late Michelle Trachtenberg<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The former child star, 37, penned an emotional tribute to Trachtenberg \u2014 who was found February 26 at the age of 39<\/a> \u2014 for Vulture<\/a>, describing how they became friends in the 1990s after she appeared in Matilda<\/em> and Trachtenberg starred in Harriet the Spy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Wilson said that she, Trachtenberg and other child stars, including Jerry Maguire<\/em>\u2019s Jonathan Lipnicki<\/strong>, formed a close friendship group and would often hang out. Wilson shared how Trachtenberg was there for her after her mom died.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat April of 1997, while we were at the film festival, marked one year since my mother had died,\u201d Wilson wrote. \u201cBeing with the group in New York felt safe, the one place my mother\u2019s absence didn\u2019t haunt me. Still, on the anniversary of her death, I burst into tears. Michelle and everyone else rallied around me, giving me hugs and doing whatever they could to make me laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Michelle Trachtenberg Through the Years: Her Life and Career in Photos<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tMichelle Trachtenberg had been acting for decades ahead of her death at age 39. Trachtenberg got her big break in 1996 when she starred as the titular Harriet the Spy opposite Rosie O\u2019Donnell. \u201cI turned 10 years old on the first day of principal photography of Harriet the Spy. Rosie was my biggest supporter,\u201d Trachtenberg [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Later, Trachtenberg moved from New York to Burbank, California, where Wilson lived, and the actors ended up at the same middle school.<\/p>\n

Wilson described how the late Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/em> actress once confided in her about being bullied by their school peers who thought Trachtenberg was \u201cmean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Are the kids here mean to you?\u2019 she asked. \u2018Sometimes,\u2019 I said,\u201d Wilson wrote. \u201c\u2018Because they are to me,\u201d she said, tearing up. \u2018They call me Harriet the S\u2013t, Harriet the Bitch, Harriet the Bitchy Spy \u2026 and so much worse. They never stop.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never seen Michelle cry before. I\u2019d never seen her anything other than perfectly composed and confident. That\u2019s what it was, I realized. That\u2019s why they said she was \u2018mean.\u2019 Because they were mean to her first, then when she went on the defense, they called her a bitch,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Michelle Trachtenberg\u2019s Most Honest Quotes About Fame, Hollywood<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tMichelle Trachtenberg\u2019s experience in Hollywood wasn\u2019t always filled with glitz and glamour. Ever since she rose to fame as a child star in the 1996 movie Harriet the Spy, Trachtenberg had the opportunity to work on many projects including big TV shows like Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While the actress may have [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just that she was being bullied; it was that there wasn\u2019t any way she could get them not to hate her. So much of being a child actor is about making everyone happy. It felt cruelly ironic to be so hated when our raison d\u2019\u00eatre was getting people to like us,\u201d Wilson added.<\/p>\n

Wilson also shared how she reacted to the news of Trachtenberg\u2019s death last month.<\/p>\n

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