Early life

Trachtenberg was born in New York City, the younger of two daughters of Lana, a bank manager, and Michael Trachtenberg, a fiber-optics engineer. Her father is German Jewish and her mother is Russian Jewish, and she is of the Jewish religion, with her grandparents living in Israel. She was raised with her older sister Irene in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, where she attended junior high school at The Bay Academy for the Arts and Sciences. She later attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California.

Career

Trachtenberg made her first television appearance at the age of three, in a commercial for Wisk detergent. She went on to feature in over 100 more commercials. She appeared in her first credited role as Nona F. Mecklenberg on the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1994 until 1996. During the same period she played Lily Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children.

Trachtenberg's film career began in 1996 with the title role in Harriet the Spy. During this time, she also began a recurring role in season two of the television series The Adventures of Pete & Pete, of which she later became a regular. She then starred in the short-lived television series Meego, which garnered her a Young Artist Award. She returned to film in 1999 for Inspector Gadget. She also starred in the film Can't Be Heaven. In the summer of 2000, she took on the role of Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, remaining in the role until the show ended in 2003. She also hosted the Discovery Kids series Truth or Scare from 2001 to 2003.

After Buffy and Truth or Scare, Trachtenberg appeared in the comedy film EuroTrip. She also had a recurring role in the HBO series Six Feet Under as Celeste, a spoiled pop star for whom Keith Charles served as a bodyguard. In March 2005, she played the title character in Walt Disney Pictures' comedy drama Ice Princess. In the film, Trachtenberg played a science whiz named Casey Carlyle, who is torn between a future in academia and her newfound dream of being a professional figure skater.

In April 2006, Trachtenberg guest-starred in the episode of House, "Safe". She revealed on the December 22, 2006, episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien that House was her favorite show, and that she was friends with one of the producers and had asked to be a guest star.

In November 2006, Trachtenberg guest starred in season six of the crime drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the episode "Weeping Willow", she played the role of Willow, a kidnapped video blogger, likely based on lonelygirl15. Trachtenberg also appeared in the Fall Out Boy music video for "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", the Joaquin Phoenix-directed music video for "Tired of Being Sorry" by Ringside, and the video for the Trapt song "Echo".

In 2006, Trachtenberg starred in Black Christmas, the remake of the 1974 slasher of the same name. In 2007, she was cast as the female lead in an ABC comedy pilot called The Hill, based on the newspaper of the same name in Washington, DC. She provided the voice of Tika Waylan for Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a direct-to-video animated film based on the novel of the same name.

Trachtenberg appeared on The CW hit show Gossip Girl as Georgina Sparks, who recently left rehab and brings back the dark past Serena van der Woodsen desperately wants to leave behind. She returned to the show for a multiple-episode story arc towards the end of season two. Trachtenberg appeared in the season-three finale and in season four. She also appeared several times in season five, and in almost every episode of season six, the show's final season. In 2009, Trachtenberg was a cast member on the NBC drama Mercy; the series lasted one season.

On June 9, 2011, Trachtenberg guest-starred on Love Bites as Jodie, who, after being unceremoniously dumped, decides - with a vengeance - to accept her ex's offer to "be friends". She reprised the role on June 16, 2011, and in the series finale on July 21, 2011. On June 28, it was announced Trachtenberg would guest-star on Weeds during its seventh season. Her character Emma is a rival pot dealer who causes problems for Silas Botwin. In June 2012, Trachtenberg was cast in the film The Scribbler, produced by Gabriel Cowan.

In the Criminal Minds episode "Zugzwang", Trachtenberg played Diane Turner, the criminal stalker to Spencer Reid's girlfriend, Maeve Donovan. She returned to film with the 2009 film 17 Again. She also had a small role in the comedy film Cop Out. In March 2011, she was the featured cover girl in Maxim.

Personal life

Trachtenberg speaks fluent Russian. She celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Melissa	Lena	Uncredited
1996	Harriet the Spy	Harriet M. Welsch
1998	Richie Rich's Christmas Wish	Gloria	Direct-to-video
1999	Inspector Gadget	Penny
2000	Can't Be Heaven	Julie
2004	EuroTrip	Jenny
2004	Mysterious Skin	Wendy
2005	Ice Princess	Casey Carlyle
2006	Beautiful Ohio	Sandra
2006	Black Christmas	Melissa Kitt
2008	Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight	Tika (voice)	Direct-to-video
2009	Against the Current	Suzanne
2009	17 Again	Margaret "Maggie" Sarah O'Donnell
2010	Cop Out	Ava Monroe
2010	DC Showcase: Jonah Hex	Bar girl (voice)	Short film
2011	Take Me Home Tonight	Ashley
2013	Sexy Evil Genius	Miranda Prague	Direct-to-video
2014	Scribbler, TheThe Scribbler	Alice
2016	Sister Cities	Dallas	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Law & Order	Dinah Driscoll	Episode: "God Bless the Child"; uncredited
1993	Clarissa Explains It All	Elsie Soaperstein	Episode: "Babysitting"
1993-96	All My Children	Lily Benton Montgomery #1	Daytime drama
1994-96	Adventures of Pete & Pete, TheThe Adventures of Pete & Pete	Nona F. Mecklenberg	21 episodes
1996	Dave's World	Angela	Episode: "Solitaire"
1996	Space Cases	Prankster #1	Episode: "All You Can Eaty"
1996	Holiday for Love, AA Holiday for Love	Noelle Murphy	Television film
1997	Meego	Maggie Parker	13 episodes
1998	Blue's Clues	Herself	Episode: "Blue's Birthday"
1998	Reading Rainbow	Herself (voice)	Episode: "Math Curse"
1998	Guys Like Us	Katie	Episode: "Maestro's First Crush"
1998-99	Figure It Out	Herself (panelist)	12 episodes
2000	Father's Choice, AA Father's Choice	Kelly McClain	Television film
2000-03	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Dawn Summers	66 episodes
2001-03	Truth or Scare	Herself (host and narrator)	20 episodes
2004	Six Feet Under	Celeste	4 episodes
2005	Dive from Clausen's Pier, TheThe Dive from Clausen's Pier	Carrie Beal	Television film
2006	House	Melinda Bardach	Episode: "Safe"
2006-12	Robot Chicken	Various voices	5 episodes
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lisa Willow Tyler	Episode: "Weeping Willow"
2008-12	Gossip Girl	Georgina Sparks	28 episodes
2008	Circuit, TheThe Circuit	Kylie Shines	Television film
2009-10	Mercy	Chloe Payne	22 episodes
2009	Super Hero Squad Show, TheThe Super Hero Squad Show	Valkyrie (voice)	2 episodes
2011	Love Bites	Jodie	3 episodes
2011	Weeds	Emma Karlin	5 episodes
2013	Criminal Minds	Diane Turner	Episode: "Zugzwang"
2013	Killing Kennedy	Marina Oswald	Television film
2013	NCIS: Los Angeles	Lily Lockhart	Episode: "Merry Evasion"
2015	Sleepy Hollow	Abigail Adams	Episode: "Pittura Infamante"
2015	SuperMansion	Blood Moon (voice)	Episode: "A Midsummer Night's Ream"
2015	Christmas Gift, TheThe Christmas Gift	Megan	Television film

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1997	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film: Leading Young Actress	Harriet the Spy	Won
1998	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Supporting Young Actress	Meego	Won
2000	YoungStar Award	Best Young Actress in a Comedy Film	Inspector Gadget	Nominated
2000	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film: Supporting Young Actress	Inspector Gadget	Nominated
2001	Teen Choice Award	TV - Choice Sidekick	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Nominated
2001	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Supporting Young Actress	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Won
2001	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress on Television	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Nominated
2002	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Leading Young Actress	Truth or Scare	Nominated
2002	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Guest Starring Young Actress	MADtv	Nominated
2002	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Television Actress	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Nominated
2003	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Television Actress	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Nominated
2004	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series	Truth or Scare	Nominated
2007	Sarasota Film Festival	Breakthrough Performer	Beautiful Ohio	Won
2012	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Villain	Gossip Girl	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]