Rosie O’Donnell is reflecting on her final interactions with her late “Harriet the Spy” co-star, Michelle Trachtenberg.

In an interview with Variety published Thursday, the comedian and former talk show host said Trachtenberg “would call me and we would talk” prior to her death last year, but described the actor as being in “pretty bad shape” by that point.

“She was a real genius child who was able to memorize anything, pick up her lines, you could improvise with her, and she was connected and right there,” O’Donnell said. “We were supposed to see each other three or four times, and she just never showed up — sometimes at restaurants, other times at my house where we’d had someone prepare the whole meal.”

“I would call her and go, ‘Honey, are you heading over?’ and she’d go, ‘Was that today?’ She was not in good shape,” she continued. “I didn’t think that she would die. With most people suffering from addiction, their loved ones think that they’ll survive it, but you can die from your addiction to drugs or alcohol, and it happens too often that it must be taken seriously.”

Trachtenberg, whose Hollywood credits also include “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl,” died Feb. 26, 2025, at age 39. A New York medical examiner determined her cause of death to be complications of diabetes mellitus, but made no mention of substance use as a factor.

It was later confirmed that Trachtenberg had undergone a liver transplant for unspecified reasons in the months preceding her death and may have experienced complications.

In January 2024, Trachtenberg shared a photo of herself on Instagram in an attempt to dispel recent speculation about her appearance after many remarked on what they perceived as weight loss and signs of jaundice.

“Fun fact. This is my face. Not malnutrition no problems,” she wrote in the caption. “Why do you have you hate? Get a calendar.”

In her Variety chat, O’Donnell said she now wishes she “could have done more” for Trachtenberg, noting the actor “was inaccessible toward the end, and it was tragic.”

“It reminded me of Whitney Houston where everyone knew what was going on, but no one was willing to say something, and often because the people that are closest to you are employed by you when you’re that big of an entity, and they don’t want to lose their job or their money,” she recalled.

She also pointed to her 28-year-old daughter, Chelsea, who has been arrested several times on drug-related charges and is currently incarcerated.

“She’s been sober a year and a half and she’s currently in prison, sadly, but she was born addicted to drugs and never really had a fair shake,” she said. “It’s very serious and there are millions of families in America going through the same thing.”

O’Donnell’s interview with Variety comes as she is making her much-anticipated return to the New York stage. Next week, she’ll begin performances of “Common Knowledge,” in which she shares anecdotes about her relationship with her child, Clay, who is nonbinary and on the autism spectrum, and her move to Ireland following President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection.

Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.

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