EuroTrip - Why It's Important to Millennials, How Matt Damon Got Involved, and Remembering Michelle Trachtenberg

That's a long title for this article, but there's a lot packed in here.  Due to how I schedule and write for this site, I wish I could have written a separate article about Michelle Trachtenberg sooner.  However, I hope you stick around until the end for my little tribute to her life and career.

I was born in the mid-1980s, so technically, I am a Millennial.  A while back, I mentioned that I think there should be a different category between Gen X and Millennials, called Centennials.  Some people already call us Xennials or Gen Y or whatever, but it's not "official."  Not that there's some government registry that controls these things or anything.  

Centennials are the last group of feral children left to their own devices, much like Gen X.  But, we were also coming of age as the digital world took hold, a world that younger Millennials and Zoomers only know.  My generation, the "elder millennials," born between 1982 and 1986, can clearly remember life before the internet.  

For us, life was slower, and our imagination and physical connections ruled the day.  We didn't have Google to answer every fleeting question, so we cracked open encyclopedias, asked our parents (who also didn't know), or just accepted that life was full of mysteries.  Entertainment was ours to create, which meant hours outside riding bikes or making up our own games from the bucket of balls and other items in the garage.  Rainy days meant rewatching our favorite VHS tapes, endless board games, or arguing over whose turn it was on Nintendo.  

Without texting or social media, making plans meant calling a friend's house phone and suffering through a conversation with their parents.  We passed paper notes in class, doodled on our textbooks, and hung out at the shopping mall, hoping our friends would show up. 

Boredom was the catalyst for our creativity, and the world felt much smaller.  We didn't have playdates arranged for us.  We went outside to play (alone!) and certainly didn't have a parent constantly looking over our shoulder.  Parents would never spend their days setting up an endless stream of fun things for us to do or sit on the floor for hours playing with toys or games as they do today.  

 

As a modern parent, I'm guilty of all of those things, and I'm delighted to play with my daughter on the floor for hours, creating stories and doing character voices.  But there's a lot less freedom for children today.  They aren't exposed to certain things anymore, which is good, in a way.  They aren't desensitized to everything like we were.  The other day, my wife and I were talking about The Wizard of Oz, and we both saw it at a very young age, maybe 3 or 4.  We were both scared silly over the monkeys, the witch, and the Wizard for weeks.  

Now?  I don't think too many people even show it to their children anymore, let alone anyone under the age of 8 or 10.  A lot of the stuff that we used to watch at a very young age, even classics like Ghostbusters or Indiana Jones, would keep my daughter up at night today.  

In my opinion, though, she should enjoy her blissful childhood ignorance.  

Unlike my generation, who was told from a young age that a secret demonic cult lived in the woods by our house and would kidnap us and eat us alive.  Then, days later, we were allowed to watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where a secret demonic cult kidnapped people and ate the beating heart right out of people's chests.  

Yeah, that went over as well as you'd think when I was 6...

In any event, you've heard enough "old man yelling at clouds," so let's talk more about one of my favorite movies. 

My generation has a nostalgic fondness for the movie EuroTrip.  A simple search on Google or social media turns up hundreds, if not thousands, of posts about how we all loved that low-rent, low-budget movie.  

EuroTrip, the 2004 teen "sex comedy" (honestly, that's what Wikipedia calls it), embodies the irreverent, brash, boundary-pushing humor of the early 2000s.  The film follows Scott "Scotty" Thomas and his friends on a chaotic journey around Europe, filled with absurd situations, crude jokes, sexual innuendo, and a youthful, carefree attitude toward everything, especially cultural stereotypes.  

For me, it fit right in with my attitude at the time.  I may have been described a time or two, especially back then, as a "hot head" or worse.  Being politically correct was the furthest thing from my mind (or anyone's) in 2004.

This movie was seemingly made for a young, twenty year old college athlete who listened to nothing but shock jocks like Opie and Anthony, had just met his future wife, and was about to graduate and get his dream job flying airplanes around the world.  Life was good.  

For many Centennials, who were teenagers or young adults when the film was released, EuroTrip represents a time when humor was less restricted by cultural sensibilities and the political correctness that dominates today's media landscape.  

For decades, raunchy comedies similar to EuroTrip and American Pie, which centered on young people's wild adventures, were standard fare at the box office.  Films like Porky's, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Revenge of the Nerds, and Risky Business were staples of the 1980s.  The 1990s gave rise to similar comedies that were wildly successful (for the genre), like There's Something About Mary, Road Trip, and American Pie.

Post-American Pie films brought us other raunch-centric films like The Girl Next Door, Van Wilder, Old School, and EuroTrip that kept the crude humor, youth-focused, sex-driven plot genre alive and thriving.

Films like EuroTrip benefited from the genre's heyday.  Benefits like large advertising budgets, quick DVD releases (and straight-to-DVD sequels), a budding internet and social media for word of mouth, and a nearly insatiable cultural attitude for unapologetic humor.  

The genre has all but disappeared from box offices in the past decade or so.  It didn't vanish overnight, but The Hangover (2009) would be what I'd guess is the beginning of the end of the golden era for this type of popcorn movie.  The Hangover took the wreckless group adventure of EuroTrip and the party chaos of American Pie, removed the teenagers in favor of (already famous) adult Hollywood stars, and added a bigger budget and polished script. 

While Hangover grossed over $467 million on only a $35 million budget, it was no longer about teens.  It was about adults acting like overgrown frat-boy man-children.  Looking around these days, I guess art imitates life.  

The Hangover sequels in 2011 and 2013 leaned even harder into raunch and excess, but the bloom was off the rose, and the jokes weren't as funny.  Audiences had already begun to feel squeamish at jokes they had laughed at just years prior, and the box office returns were much lower.  Clearly, America's tolerance for "out of bounds" comedy was much lower.  Audiences quickly gravitated toward "safer" franchise blockbusters like superhero movies or animated features.  

The unfiltered juvenile humor of EuroTrip began to feel dated and inappropriate, but wasn't that the point?  Social norms had started changing, and what was perfectly ok in 2004 was deemed "cringey" in 2014.  By then, the theatrical "teen sex comedy" was a relic.

Is the genre dead?  Not entirely.  In 2018, "Blockers," starring John Cena, was a rare success, but it, too, shifted the perspective away from the teens and toward the parents.  There hasn't been much to write about since then, and the EuroTrip/American Pie breed of unapologetic, teen-centric, and brash humor has faded away as a cultural force. 

COVID-19 changed something, though.  

Trapped at home during the "lockdowns," Millennials began digging deeper into their streaming services.  Feelings of nostalgia overwhelmed people as they finally had time to go back and watch things they remembered from their childhood.  Many also used the time as a chance to watch shows or movies they had never seen.   

Countless movie watchers turned to EuroTrip.  According to several stream-tracking websites, it became one of the "Top 20 Streamed Movies" in May 2020.  Those who were teenagers or young adults when the film was released suddenly remembered a time when humor was less constrained.  In the privacy of their own homes, they allowed themselves to laugh and enjoy the movie as the unapologetic humor resonated with an entire generation that grew up with this type of humor.

If you browse places like Reddit or Twitter (or X or whatever), most EuroTrip fans watch it not only for entertainment but for the complete time capsule the movie represents.  The clothes, hairstyles, cars, and music of the day all add to the feelings of nostalgia.  The early 2000s alt-rock soundtrack, featuring great songs like "Wild One" by Wakefield, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet, "Get Loose" by The Salads, and, of course, "Scotty Doesn't Know" by Lustra, doubles the nostalgia hit.  

From the over-the-top portrayal of European stereotypes to the easy and casual use of language that would get even the cameraman cancelled today, EuroTrip thrived on a type of comedy that now feels rebellious in retrospect.  Fact of the matter is, though, it's just how we grew up.  It was normal to us.  Edgy jokes didn't require a disclaimer; that nonchalance is part of the film's overall appeal.  

One prominent Twitter user with over 3 million followers tweeted in November 2024, "Was watching a little of EuroTrip (2004) last night, and it's like looking into another world.  Millennials and Zoomers have no idea what used to be common in culture.  That movie wasn't even considered controversial when it came out.  Scotty doesn't know..."  

While he may be off base that Millennials don't know, because us "elder Millennials" certainly do, his observation underscores how the film's humor and language, once so commonplace, would likely shock younger audiences today.  

He later responded to someone else saying, "...kids today would be blown away by the jokes and language people used."  

Despite its now dated elements, EuroTrip retains a loyal following for capturing the moment of pre-social-media freedom in entertainment.  While many will cringe at its casual use of certain words or that it most definitely contains any "ism" you could shake a stick at, it's a product of its time and not meant to be dissected for deeper meaning.

Whenever my wife and I watch EuroTrip today, we're taken right back to when we met in 2004.  That refreshing feeling of "back then" is a luxury getting rarer and rarer these days.  The film itself is "a vibe" and a reminder of our formative years when the world felt much less serious.  We know several people our age who watch EuroTrip several times a year.  They watch for reminders of when they navigated high school or college, causing them to daydream about their own reckless youth.  

For most of us, myself included, raised on television like Jerry Springer, Celebrity Death Match, and The Man Show, along with the new frontier of an internet filled with unfiltired forums and messageboards, it's less about the plot and more about the feeling of revisiting the carefree days of our youth. 

The lasting charm of this film also relies on its underdog status.  It wasn't a critical darling or box office juggernaut; it actually lost money in theaters.  It only sold $20.5 million on its meager $25 million budget.  Up against "50 First Dates" starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, EuroTrip came in third on its opening weekend.  Lindsay Lohan's "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" took second.

But it eventually found its audience and was significantly more successful through cable reruns, pirated downloads, and word-of-mouth.  Today, it remains a fairly popular movie on streaming services.  As of writing (March 2025), EuroTrip is available free on Hoopla and Pluto and available on paid memberships to Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.  

EuroTrip was written and directed by Jeff Schaffer, Alec Berg, and David Mandel.  While all three shared directing and writing responsibilities, the Directors Guild required that only one director be named, and Jeff Schaffer's name was chosen when an intern pulled his name out of a hat.  

Unbelievably, all scenes for the movie were filmed in Prague, Czech Republic.  Every scene set in well-known locations was done through movie magic or green-screen trickery.  As someone who has seen this movie countless times, I was blown away when I read this.  Although, I must admit, on my next watch, I could quickly tell the "green-screened" scenes where I had never paid enough attention before.  

The opening scenes in Ohio were filmed at the International School of Prague.  Keen-eyed viewers would note that in the scene when Scotty uses the bathroom after the graduation party, he flushes the toilet by pushing a button on top of the tank rather than using a handle on the side.  This top-button feature was not widely available in America until years after the movie.  The Paris train station was filmed in Prague's central railway station, and the Vatican City scenes were filmed in the National Museum in Prague. 

The movie follows Scott "Scotty" Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz), a recent high school graduate who travels across Europe with his friends Cooper (Jacob Pitts) and twin siblings Jenny and Jamie (Michelle Trachtenberg and Travis Wester).  The group is searching Europe for Scott's German pen pal, Mieke (Jessica Boehrs).  During their journey, Scott's quest takes them to England, France, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Germany, and Italy through awkward, embarrassing, and hysterical moments.  

Fiona dumps Scott after his graduation

Immediately following his high school graduation in Hudson, Ohio, Scotty is dumped (in front of his family) by his much-out-of-his-league girlfriend, Fiona (Kristin Kreuk).  Later that night, along with friends Cooper, Jenny, and Jaime, Scott attends a graduation party, where he is forced to listen to a very catchy song titled "Scotty Doesn't Know." The song is dedicated to Scott's ex-girlfriend Fiona by the band's singer, Donny.  As Donny starts to sing, the lyrics detail the years-long affair Fiona had been having behind Scotty's back with Donny.  

For those who have never heard the song, please listen below.  You'll definitely sing the hook all day long, but perhaps don't listen at work or near children.  

You'll notice that the lead singer, Donny, is played by none other than Hollywood A-list actor Matt Damon.  What's someone like him doing in this silly little movie, you ask?  

In 2004, Damon was fresh off a list of hit movies, including Good Will Hunting (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Rounders (1998), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Ocean's Eleven (2001), and The Bourne Identity (2002).  Although not known for his comedic talents, Damon began branching out in 2002 with tiny comedy guest roles, appearing on the television shows Will and Grace (2002) and The Bernie Mac Show (2003). 

With the above list, you can see why it was a surprise for fans to see the award-winning actor, who had just recently transitioned from serious dramas to blockbuster action hero, suddenly appear in such a romp like EuroTrip!  

Still considered one of the best and most surprising celebrity movie cameos of all time, Matt Damon plays Donny, the obnoxious, tattooed lead singer, at the graduation party Scott attends that kicks off the events of the movie.  Donny calls Scotty's recently ex-girlfriend up on stage, dedicates the next song to her, and wishes her a "Happy Anniversary," humorously explaining to the audience their relationship has gone on behind Scotty's back for at least a year.  He and the band perform the song "Scotty Doesn't Know," graphically detailing the affair and publically humiliating Scott simultaneously.  

This cameo was so unexpected that many wondered why a serious actor took the job and completely knocked it out of the park.  On a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), Damon revealed that the EuroTrip screenwriters Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer were his old college friends, and they simply asked him to appear in the film.  

Damon said:

"...Alec and Dave and Jeff were making EuroTrip and they said 'Will you come play this, you know, Howard Rollins kind of insane, bad version of a suburban, you know, punk band guy?' And I said 'Yea, I'm in Prague'."

He was in Prague filming The Brothers Grimm at the time, and he also mentioned in the AMA that because the role in Brothers Grimm required a wig, he was willing to shave his head just for EuroTrip!  

One final hurdle to his appearance in Eurotrip was matching up the film's and Damon's availability.  As it turned out, the only day that matched was June 21, that year's summer solstice.  

Normally, that wouldn't be an issue, but the summer solstice has the longest amount of daylight each year, and as Damon says, "...of course, we were shooting a night scene, in Prague, with only five hours of darkness."  Fortunately, they filmed all of their scenes that night without any issues. 

He also provided insight into the now-famous song he "performed" (lip-synched), "Scotty Doesn't Know." Damon performed with the actual band, Lustra, who portrayed the rest of the band on stage in the film.  Damon even borrowed a shirt from the lead singer, whose father had made it special just for the film appearance.  When filming was over, Damon accidentally wore the shirt home.  The singer, Nick Cloutman, has had a running joke on social media ever since that Matt Damon stole his shirt.  

After appearing in EuroTrip and the critical and fan praise that followed, Matt Damon began frequently appearing in small cameo parts, often in a comedic role.  Appearing as a redneck trucker in Deadpool 2, or as an actor portraying Loki in a play within Thor:  Ragnarok, it seems he relishes these brief comedic roles.  

No matter how many times he's made surprise cameo appearances, his most famous will likely always be EuroTrip.  According to an interview in Uproxx, director Jeff Schaffer even mentioned that Damon often has people walk up to him in public screaming, "Scotty Doesn't Know!" Matt confirmed this by saying that despite being in many award-winning films, fans often ask him to sign autographs or sing lines from "Scotty Doesn't Know!"  

After the party featuring Damon's Donny, Scott returns home drunk and angry to read an email from his German pen pal, whom Scotty calls "Mike." Earlier in the day, Scott's friend Cooper had suggested that "Mike" was a sexual predator and that Scotty should stay away from him, especially if he ever wanted to arrange a meeting.  So, upon reading the new email after the party, Scott reads an email from Mike that expresses sympathy for Scott's breakup with Fiona and suggests that they should meet in person.  

Scotty, still drunk from the party, freaks out and tells Mike to drop dead.  

The following day, Scotty's younger brother Bert informs him that Mike is actually "Mieke," a common German name similar to Michelle.  Scott, in denial, pulls out a photograph that Mike sent him years ago, featuring Mike and his beautiful cousin Jan.  Bert corrects him and says that "Jan" (as in Jan Brady) is pronounced "Yahn," a common German man's name.  He then adds that the beautiful girl is not Mike, it's Mieka.

Scott immediately realizes his mistake and that he's had a deep, intimate connection with her through all of their letters.  However, he discovers he has feelings for her all too late.  After reading his response, Mieke has blocked his email address.  Scotty has no other way to contact her and grows despondent.  Following Cooper's advice not to be the predictable, dull Scott that Fiona broke up with, the two head to Europe to find her. 

After getting cheap tickets by promising to act as couriers, the two land in London, where they accidentally befriend a Manchester United football hooligan club led by Mad Maynard (Vinnie Jones).  After another night of heavy drinking, Scotty and Cooper wake up on the hooligans' bus on the way to Paris.  

In one of my favorite scenes from the movie, the hooligans' bus is driving the wrong way down the highway (they are British, after all), and Maynard is yelling a string of obscenities out the window.  After the film, this is shown during the blooper reel, and it seems to be a bunch of ad-libbed lines from actor Vinnie Jones.  While certainly offensive by today's standards, they are downright funny, and you can see the actor playing the bus driver "break" and laugh along to the scene in both the bloopers and the cut that made it into the movie.

Ditching the hooligans, they meet up with their old classmates, Jenny and Jaime, who are touring Europe together.  Impressed that "predictable Scotty" flew to Europe to find a girl, the twins join the journey to Berlin.

After several adventures in Paris, including a fight with a robot-man while waiting outside the Lourve Museum, they buy tickets to their next destination.  At the Paris train station, Cooper first realizes that he's attracted to Jenny but quickly stifles those feelings.  Meanwhile, Jenny meets a wealthy, attractive European man, who she hopes will marry her so they can sail around the world on his private yacht.

On the train, the friends encounter a "Creepy Italian Man" (his official name in the credits) who enters their private cabin.  Fred Armison, a star on Saturday Night Live at the time of the movie, perfectly portrays the Creepy Italian Man.  The line "Mi Scusi!" is frequently quoted by fans, and it's probably one of the most famous scenes in the entire film.  

You can watch it below, but as with everything EuroTrip, viewer discretion is certainly advised:

The train drops the group off in Crans Sur Mer, France, a coastal town famous for its nude beaches.  Having several hours before their next train, the boys head right to the beach, only to be disappointed with nothing but other male gawkers.  Later that night, they are back on the train to Amsterdam, and during Scott's dream sequence, German pop-music legend, David Hassellhoff, even makes an appearance!

"The Hoff" makes an appearance during a dream sequence

Finding themselves in Amsterdam for the night, the group splits up to kill time until their morning train.  Cooper finds himself in the red-light district, where he stumbles into a brothel run by a dominatrix portrayed by Lucy Lawless, of Xena the Warrior Princess fame.  Scott and Jenny go to a bakery looking for "special brownies" and, afterwards, are disappointed to discover that they are only at a regular bakery.  

Jenny's brother Jaime heads to a camera shop to get his expensive Leica camera serviced, but he's later robbed in the back alley while otherwise "preoccupied." During the robbery, Jamie loses everyone's money, passports, and train tickets stored in Jaime's hidden traveler's money belt (recommended by Arthur Frommer's guide book) designed to prevent anything being stolen.

They arrive in (gasp) Eastern Europe

The following day, they attempt to hitchhike to Berlin.  Due to a language misunderstanding with a drunken truck driver, he dumps them in "Eastern Europe," specifically the poor, depressing, post-communist Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.

The group runs into a Bratislavan man who loves American pop culture (from the 1980s).  He informs them that the train to Berlin is "still being built." Although they have only $1.83 among them, they find the exchange rate extremely favorable and are treated like royalty at the finest hotel in the city. 

With their last 27 cents, the group goes to an exclusive nightclub.  The scene is very posh, and a techno version of "Scotty Doesn't Know" plays in the background.  

Jenny and Cooper begin flirting at the club until the wealthy man from the Paris train station interrupts them.  He owns the club and takes her to a private table for drinks.  Jenny soon finds that her knight in shining armor is already married and has affairs all over the world, so she quickly leaves and joins the boys at the bar.  

The boys try the drink that's "illegal in the States."

The three boys had begun drinking from a glowing bright-green alcohol called absinthe, deemed illegal (according to Jaime reading from Frommer's) in the United States because it tends to make people hallucinate.  After Jenny joins, a massive party ensues that ends when Jenny and Jamie discover that they "really are the worst twins ever." You'll have to watch the movie to find out why.

The next day, the America-loving man from Bratislava drives them to Berlin, where Scott and Cooper knock on Mieke's door.  Unfortunately, she's already left for her student tour group's "summer at sea," and she will only be in Rome for a short time before boarding the boat, where she won't be reachable.  

The group gets past the Swiss Guard at the Vatican.

Undeterred, Scott decides to travel to Rome anyway.  Jaime unselfishly sells his precious Leica camera so the group has the money to fly, and they dash off for the Eternal City.  They head to Vatican City, where Jaime (and his Frommer's guidebook) act as a tour guide to get past the Swiss Guard.  While Jaime leads a group of total strangers on a tour, Cooper and Scott head off on their own and get into some blasphemous mischief.  

They accidentally ring the bells of San Marco, signaling that the Pope had died.  They find themselves in the Pope's private residence, where they get into even more trouble when they light the Pope's hat on fire.  They toss the hat into the fireplace, and when the smoke exits the chimney, the crowd gathered below believe they have already elected a new Pope.  

Scotty sees Mieke in the crowd below and runs to her.  He confesses his love to her, and she is VERY happy to see him.  Mindy Sterling, perhaps best known as Frau Farbissina in the Austin Powers trilogy, plays the uncredited part of this scene's unsuspecting woman in the Confessional.

Speaking of uncredited parts, comedic actor Jeffrey Tambor plays Scotty's aloof father earlier in the film.  Arthur Frommer was going to appear in the movie as himself, but due to scheduling issues, he was replaced by actor Patrick Malahide.

While the others fly home, Jaime stays behind in Europe, having been hired as a tour guide by Arthur Frommer.  On the plane, after playing cat-and-mouse through the whole movie, Cooper and Jenny start their relationship.  In the fall, Scotty moves into his dorm at Oberlin College.  

In the final scene, Scotty is on the phone with Cooper and Jenny (still together at a different college) when someone knocks on his door.  Scott had been expecting his new roommate, Mike, but Mieke stood there smiling when he opened the door.  She says the school must have thought her name was Mike and assigned her to the boys' dorm.  What luck! 

I'd be hard-pressed to finish this article without at least mentioning the recent passing of one of the film's stars, Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Jenny.  

Michelle Christine Trachtenberg, born October 11, 1985, grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.  She began acting in television commercials at the age of three in a commercial for Wisk laundry detergent.  After making her television series debut on Law & Order, she gained recognition with a guest part on Clarissa Explains It All.  She then appeared as Nona F. Mecklenberg on the nostalgic kids series - and Millennial generation favorite - "The Adventures of Pete & Pete," which ran on Nickelodeon from 1994 to 1996.  She frequently played Lily Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children during the same period.

  

Michelle as Nona F. Mecklenberg on Pete and Pete

Her film career began in 1996 with the title role in Harriet the Spy, which required her to leave the third season of The Adventures of Pete & Pete to film.  Because of Harriet the Spy's success, which was produced through Nickelodeon Pictures, she was featured in numerous Nickelodeon advertisements, promotions, and productions throughout the rest of the 1990s.

Michelle as Harriet the Spy

After her role in Harriet the Spy, she starred in the short-lived sitcom Meego for CBS, which garnered her a Young Artist Award.  Unfortunately, Meego only filmed 13 episodes before being canceled, and only five aired.  

She returned to film in 1999 to star as Penny in the Matthew Broderick version of Inspector Gadget.  She also starred in the movie Can't Be Heaven before returning to television in one of her best-known roles.

Trachtenberg and Sarah Michelle Gellar on Buffy

On television, she played Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  While working on Buffy, she hosted the Discovery Kids series Truth or Scare from 2001 to 2003, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award.

In 2004, after Buffy and Truth or Scare ended, Michelle appeared as Jenny in the well-covered (above) teen comedy EuroTrip.  That same year, Trachtenberg played Wendy in Mysterious Skin, Gregg Araki's film adaptation of the Scott Heim novel.  In the HBO series Six Feet Under, she also had a recurring role as Celeste, a wealthy, arrogant pop star.

In 2006, Michelle began guest-starring on television shows like House and Law & Order.  She then made a series of appearances in music videos, including the Fall Out Boy song "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry," and the video for Trapt's "Echo."  

She continued her very busy 2006 by starring in "Black Christmas," the remake of the 1974 slasher film of the same name.  

In 2007, she was cast as the female lead of an ABC pilot series called The Hill, based on the newspaper of the same name in Washington, D.C. After The Hill failed to gain traction, she landed a role as Georgina Sparks on the CW hit series Gossip Girl.  She appeared in the show numerous times throughout its six seasons.

While acting in Gossip Girl, she also appeared on the one-season NBC drama Mercy.  She then returned to film, starring in the 2009 teen comedy 17 Again and the comedy Cop Out.  

In 2011, she was featured as a cover girl for the men's magazine Maxim.  That same year, she also appeared several times on the NBC series "Love Bites," CBS's "Criminal Minds," and Showtime's "Weeds."  

In late 2015, Michelle starred in the internet series Guidance and, in 2016, joined the Writers Guild of America, where she worked on several writing projects inspired by her role in Harriet the Spy.  

In 2022, Trachtenberg reprised her role as Georgina Sparks in the second season of the HBO revival of Gossip Girl.  

Perhaps appropriately, her last credited role was in 2023; she had a voice acting role as Dr. Wagner in the Apple TV animated series adaptation of Harriet the Spy.  

Michelle had been expected to make an appearance at the annual SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, in March 2025, but unfortunately, she was found unresponsive by her mother in Michelle's Manhattan apartment on the morning of February 26, 2025.  She was pronounced dead at the scene, only 39 years old.  Her family objected to an autopsy for religious reasons.

Earlier in 2024, Michelle was forced to address speculation on social media regarding her health after people commented on her weight loss and signs of jaundice.  She reassured her followers she was "happy and healthy," but it was then reported she underwent a liver transplant at some time "recently" (according to family) before her death.  

Michelle never married or had any children, and her dating life was largely unknown.  However, at the time of her death, it was announced that she had been in a long-term relationship with her agent, Jay Cohen.  

Michelle Trachtenberg's career, spanning over three decades, highlighted her versatility as an actor.  From her breakout role as Harriet the Spy to her arrival in more grown-up films in the raucous comedy EuroTrip, her sudden passing at 39 left many fans shocked and saddened.  As fans and family grieve, her diverse body of work remains a wonderful reflection of her talent and impact on pop culture.