Leighton Meester 'devastated' by former Gossip Girl co-star Michelle Trachtenberg's death
The 39-year-old actress - who portrayed Blair Waldorf in the CW teen drama series - has remembered Michelle, who portrayed troublesome schemer Georgina Sparks in the show, as a "wonderful, talented person" who "everyone loved".
Speaking to Flaunt magazine about Michelle's tragic passing, she said: "It's devastating.
"She was a wonderful, talented person, and everyone loved her.
"It's very, very sad for everyone who knew her."
Following Michelle's death, Leighton saw just how powerful the show's legacy is.
While 'Gossip Girl' hasn't been on air since 2012, Leighton still feels "the same in many ways" as she did during her heyday on the programme.
She added: "Now, I can see that [the show's legacy] continues - in some ways, even more so than back then - to live on, which is incredible."
Michelle's official cause of death was revealed as complications of diabetes mellitus.
Last month, a spokesperson for the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner told PEOPLE: "The amended determination was made following review of toxicology testing results.
"Toxicology testing can be done without autopsy."
Michelle's 'Gossip Girl' co-star Penn Badgley recently admitted he found her death "surreal".
He told E! News: 'I can't claim to have known her well but it's surreal. Really surreal, really saddening.
'What I remember of her is she was incredibly quick to laugh. She was really joyous. We all have our ups and downs, our lights and shadows, but she had this - I mean, she was mature, but she had this childlike, joyous laugh.'
What's more, former 'Gossip Girl' star Taylor Momsen said the tragic news had left her "heart on the floor".
She wrote on Instagram: "In shock... When I met this girl 17 years ago I knew we'd be friends.. she was smart and sassy, bold and sensitive, funny as f*** and filled with fire. She was simply awesome.
"I'll miss our late night calls that no one should ever hear but us. She was always in my corner and there to support me whether I was right or wrong.
"I will miss you everyday my love.. I think we truly understood each other and I am so grateful to have had a friend like you in my life for so long.. (sic)"
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The Age
13 hours ago
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After the mushroom trial, this ingeniously macabre film unintentionally hits a bit close to home
WHEN FALL IS COMING ★★★½ (M) 104 minutes Among the many mysteries of the latest film by the prolific François Ozon (The Crime is Mine) is why it's being released here as When Fall Is Coming, rather than When Autumn Falls as in Britain. True, it could be argued that the Americanised title gives 'fall' a double meaning. But this feels both vague and gratuitous, especially as the pun doesn't work in French. On the subject, the film is full of images of the French countryside in autumn, which given its premiere date means that it must have been shot in the second half of 2023. Ozon is a fast worker, but the timeline makes it highly unlikely that the script could have been inspired by reports coming out of Australia. All the same, viewers from this part of the world will feel a special sense of foreboding at a close-up of the sauteed wild mushrooms accompanying a quiche which Michelle Giraud (Hélène Vincent) has prepared for a family lunch at her home in rural Burgundy. Michelle doesn't consume any of this side dish herself, nor does her angelic young grandson Lucas (Garlan Erlos). The only other guest is her stroppy daughter Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier), Lucas' mother, who soon after is rushed to hospital where her stomach is fortunately pumped in time. The local police quickly conclude that the whole affair is an accident that could have happened to anyone. Valérie is less convinced, returning to Paris with Lucas ahead of schedule, following a quarrel where she blames her mother for what could be a careless mistake or something worse. From what we know as viewers, there's no strong reason to think Michelle is anything other than a victim of circumstance – at least until she tells a doctor that she isn't sure what happened during the lead-up to the lunch, and that she fears she might be losing her mind.
Sydney Morning Herald
13 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
After the mushroom trial, this ingeniously macabre film unintentionally hits a bit close to home
WHEN FALL IS COMING ★★★½ (M) 104 minutes Among the many mysteries of the latest film by the prolific François Ozon (The Crime is Mine) is why it's being released here as When Fall Is Coming, rather than When Autumn Falls as in Britain. True, it could be argued that the Americanised title gives 'fall' a double meaning. But this feels both vague and gratuitous, especially as the pun doesn't work in French. On the subject, the film is full of images of the French countryside in autumn, which given its premiere date means that it must have been shot in the second half of 2023. Ozon is a fast worker, but the timeline makes it highly unlikely that the script could have been inspired by reports coming out of Australia. All the same, viewers from this part of the world will feel a special sense of foreboding at a close-up of the sauteed wild mushrooms accompanying a quiche which Michelle Giraud (Hélène Vincent) has prepared for a family lunch at her home in rural Burgundy. Michelle doesn't consume any of this side dish herself, nor does her angelic young grandson Lucas (Garlan Erlos). The only other guest is her stroppy daughter Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier), Lucas' mother, who soon after is rushed to hospital where her stomach is fortunately pumped in time. The local police quickly conclude that the whole affair is an accident that could have happened to anyone. Valérie is less convinced, returning to Paris with Lucas ahead of schedule, following a quarrel where she blames her mother for what could be a careless mistake or something worse. From what we know as viewers, there's no strong reason to think Michelle is anything other than a victim of circumstance – at least until she tells a doctor that she isn't sure what happened during the lead-up to the lunch, and that she fears she might be losing her mind.
The Age
6 days ago
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In one of those strange confluences of art and real life, Francois Ozon's When Fall Is Coming is getting its Australian release just as the dust settles on the closely watched trial of Erin Patterson. The film hinges on another mushroom poisoning, this time cooked in what looks like a delicious fricassee by an elderly mother for her daughter and grandson. The film had its international premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival last year, long before the Beef Wellington story spread to Europe. Recent events do, however, lend Ozon's elusive, charming film an extra tang. Michelle (Helene Vincent) is 70 years old, living in a picturesque cottage on the outskirts of a small town in Burgundy. She gardens; she cooks and makes preserves; she has the typical French reverence for eating that means she sets the table properly even when she is alone. Her most constant companion is Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko), a longstanding friend of similar age; the two of them go foraging in the woods, go to church on Sundays, and enjoy a wine or two. But all is not calm. Michelle's daughter, Valerie (Ludivine Sagnier), hates her and is rude and vicious and demanding. Michelle, desperate to maintain her close kinship with Lucas, her beloved grandson, tries to mollify her, but in vain. When Valerie is taken ill after their lunch, she accuses her mother of trying to kill her. Michelle wonders if that might be true. Is she losing her wits? Or does some part of her want to get rid of this bitter, bullying woman, even if she is her daughter? Wouldn't life be better if Valerie were dead? Loading It is the unspeakable question; this film asks it aloud. 'I had in mind a very good friend of mine who had an addicted son,' Ozon says. 'Her life was so difficult, and when he died of an overdose, she was relieved. Of course, she was totally destroyed. But that's the strength of nature – you are able to survive.' Marie-Claude is more inclined to blame herself for the fact that her hapless son Vincent (Pierre Lottin) has led a life of petty crime, culminating in his current prison sentence. 'She asks herself: what have we done wrong with our children? And Michelle answers, 'we did our best',' Ozon says. 'And I think Michelle is heroic to have this reaction, but at the same time she's monstrous.' Whether the poisoning was accidental is never resolved. 'Life is full of ambiguity, contradictions, it is not black-and-white,' Ozon says. 'And that is what I like to show. I like all my characters.' Even snarling Valerie, who begins as an unambiguous hate figure, has her reasons, at least in her own mind. Her sweet, elfin-faced mother made her living as a prostitute; she and Marie-Claude worked together. People found out; of course they did. Valerie can never forgive her mother for that shame. That idea, says Ozon, came to him as this poisoned family took shape in his mind. 'It was step by step. I liked the idea of a woman with a past – and the fact that the past is always coming back in your life. You can't erase it. I did a lot of research into children with mothers who were prostitutes. I realised there were two kinds of reaction. Some children punish their mothers with shame. Others understand it, accept and think their mothers were just victims of social circumstances. And try to help them, especially as they age. Because in France, prostitutes have no place. They don't have pensions or social security. Really, it's a very strong thing for spectators to respond to this in their imaginations. To make them understand the situation.' In a filmography otherwise distinguished by its variety, ageing women have been Ozon's go-to subject. 'I love old people in movies – and old women have been rendered almost invisible,' he says. 'Maybe less in France because we love our old actresses – but then, some old actresses in France don't look old any more! I love to have real actresses whom we can see are 70 or 80 years old, the idea they are beautiful as they are. And filming them in a natural way, you know.' That requires their trust, which he has built up with several of France's senior stars over the years. 'The advantage with old actresses is that the past is on their faces. So it is very touching when they let you make some close-ups. Helene Vincent is a great actress, and you see her life on her face or just in her way of walking. Just watching her can tell us so many things.' His choices still meet some resistance. 'I never say I want to make a political movie, but equally I realise that to choose two old actresses as the leads is political,' he says. Still, he adds that things are better than they used to be. In 2000, he made the first of three collaborations with Charlotte Rampling. Under the Sand is a spare and enigmatic film about a woman whose husband goes missing, presumed drowned, after going for a swim one morning. 'I couldn't find the money. Everybody tells me Charlotte Rampling is too old: she will interest nobody. And she was only 50! Can you imagine?' Loading Undeterred, he made a splash two years later with his murder mystery musical Eight Women, which featured Fanny Ardant, Catherine Deneuve and an 85-year-old Danielle Darrieux; it brought him an international audience and remains his most critically and commercially successful film. 'Hopefully things have changed now. It was not so difficult to finance this time.' Ozon has been surprised by the responses he has had to the new film. 'It is an amoral movie. I leave space for the audience to make their own judgment of the situations; I like this game with an audience. But sometimes you think much more perverse things than I have in mind; it's amazing to hear some spectators say what they have seen in the story. Sometimes I'm shocked!' He smiles urbanely; it is hard to imagine what on earth would shock Francois Ozon. 'But the film doesn't belong to me any more. It's very touching when someone puts his own obsession into your story because often people are talking about themselves, especially in a film about family relationships. Some women feel very close to Michelle. Others say that she is a monster: her daughter is suffering.' For others, the mushroom becomes a metaphor for the toxicity in the family. 'And why not? If you want to see that, why not? For me, it was more about nature – and the fact nature can be beautiful and dangerous at the same time.' Like these aged women, he adds, looking impish. 'I like the idea Michelle looks like a perfect grandmother, but she is more complex. It is kind of a cliche to idealise old people. Old people can be dangerous! Be careful!' So, is she guilty? Unlike real mushroom poisoners, Michelle never faces court, so never answers the key questions. Ozon says he knows the answers, but he won't tell. In San Sebastian, where foraging for mushrooms is part of life, audience sympathies were with Michelle; a mushroom mistake could happen to anyone. For Australians, it may be another story. Loading When Fall Is Coming is in cinemas from July 31. Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter.
