Dawning of a New Buffy Era

From J-14 - February 2001

Michelle Trachtenberg, the newest -- and youngest-- member of the Scooby Gang, gives you the scoop on why this season's Buffy is better than ever!

It's kind of hard to upstage Count Dracula, especially when the blood-thirsty Prince of Darkness makes a special appearance on the season premiere of Buffy to fight fang and nail against the Slayer. But that's just what Michelle Trachtenberg did. In the final minutes of the show, we meet Buffy's 14-year-old sister Dawn (Michelle's character on the show) in the Summers' house. "What are you doing here?" Buffy asks, annoyed. And this is exactly what two million die-hard Buffy fans were wondering: Yeah, what is she doing there and who is she, really?

Dawn is born

By now, we all know Buffy's so-called "little sis" Dawn is not who she seems to be. But she is the key. To what? "She's the key to the world," Michelle answers mysteriously. "Exactly what the means, I can't tell you yet because... well, I don't know yet. They're still creating it as they go along."

But the role of Dawn has been a sure thing almost from the start. (If you've been watching carefully, Buffy creator Joss Whedon has been dropping hints about Dawn for the last three seasons.) What was less certain is who could fill the shoes of the newest member of Sunnydale's version of the Scooby gang.

Home is where Sunnydale is

So how did the actress best known for her snoop work as pint-sized detective Harriet the Spy land on one of the most popular WB series? Well, it helps that Michelle is a huge Buffy fan and pals with Sarah Michelle Gellar. "I worked with Sarah on [the soap] All My Children and we kept in touch throughout the years," explains Michelle. "Because I'm a huge fan of the show, I went to visit the set a couple of months ago."

A few weeks later, Michelle was called in to read for the part of Dawn and got it -- thanks in large part to the cheerleading efforts of Sarah, says the grateful actress. "She was very supportive. She thought I'd be the best candidate for Dawn."

Everyone else on the show seems to agree. "Luckly, the entire cast has been very accepting, and that's comforting," Michelle tells J-14. When they're not trading jokes between takes, the cast is helping Michelle slay some homework assignments. "Marc [Blucas] has offered me his help in geometry," reports Michelle. "Alyson [Hannigan] is like, 'Hey, if you have any cool history stuff...' I really get a lot of support from the entire cast."

Just how much support? On her 15th birthday (October 11), the cast helped Michelle celebrate in style. "Everyone brought me a big cake, flowers, balloons and a whole bunch of presents. Sarah and Freddie [Prinze Jr.] got me a beautiful present," gushes Michelle. "Then they took me bowling!"

A season for slaying

For fans who were worried that the show would lose its kick-butt attitude during its 5th season now that Buffy's "kid sister" is in town, Michelle assures us that's so not the case. "She brings even more edge to the show because she's this new mission that everyone has to protect," reasons the teen. "If anything, it's another twist to Buffy's rollercoaster storyline. I'm really excited to be a part of it."