Mara Wilson is mourning Michelle Trachtenberg.
The âMatildaâ star wrote a touching essay for Vulture on Tuesday about her friendship with the fellow child star â and her reaction to Trachtenbergâs passing in February.
The duo went to the same middle school in Burbank, Calif., where students thought Trachtenberg was âmeanâ and bullied her.
âThey call me Harriet the Sât, Harriet the Bitch, Harriet the Bitchy Spy ⊠and so much worse. They never stop,â Wilson, 37, recalled her late pal saying, referencing Trachtenbergâs 1996 movie, âHarriet the Spy.â
Before that conversation, Wilson âhad never seen [Trachtenberg] cry beforeâ as she was usually âperfectly composed and confident.â
She added, âIt wasnât just that she was being bullied; it was that there wasnât any way she could get them not to hate her.â
Elsewhere in the tribute, the âMrs. Doubtfireâ star explained that she âstarted to sobâ when she found out her friend had been found dead in her New York City apartment at age 39.
âI was packing for a work trip,â Wilson wrote. âI looked at my phone and felt my stomach drop. My hands were shaking and my knees went weak â I thought I might pass out.
âThis wasnât supposed to happen,â she continued. âShe was too young. Sheâd worked too hard. I always thought I would get the chance to see her again, to tell her how much Iâd always looked up to her. To tell her the times we spent together as children were some of the best of my life.â
Wilson, who previously wrote via Instagram Stories that her âheart [was] breaking for [her] childhood friend,â credited Trachtenberg with being there for her when her mom died in 1996.
The âGossip Girlâ alumâs cause of death was ruled âundeterminedâ as her surviving family members objected to an autopsy.
Before her death, Trachtenberg suffered from âback issues and then bone problems, and she also fell a few times,â a source told Us Weekly earlier this month.
âWhenever we spoke, there was something medically wrong,â the insider added, noting Trachtenberg didnât let the myriad of health problems âget her down.â
Page Six reported that Trachtenberg underwent liver surgery ahead of her passing.
She has since been honored in many touching social media uploads by former co-stars, including Sarah Michelle Gellar and Blake Lively.
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