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Ice Princess
When you first lay your eyes on Michelle Trachtenberg as Casey Carlyle in Ice Princess, it’s hard not to fall in love with her and the character. A physics nerd with Ivy League ambitions, Casey blows off steam by ice skating on the frozen lake near her home. When she skates she looks graceful and confident, happy and free—before the bubble gets popped by her mother Joan, played by Joan Cusack. Time’s up, Casey! Get back to studying.
Ice Princess has all the classic tropes of a coming-of-age film: brainiac who has a controlling parent and defies the expectations of everyone by pursuing her love for skating. It’s easy for a role like this to feel contrived and corny, but Trachtenberg brings the perfect amount of endearing awkwardness and wide-eyed innocence to make Casey utterly charming. You root for her as she storms out of a Harvard scholarship interview and cheer when she finally declares to her mother, “No, mum! I’m giving up your dream!” before convincing her disgraced coach, Tina, played by Kim Cattrall, to train her for sectionals.
To watch Casey effectively throw away everything in pursuit of a dream—and still root for her? Not to mention, hold her own opposite Cusack and Cattrall? It takes one hell of an actor. A huge part of Trachtenberg’s legacy is her immense talent, yes, but it will also be the film’s main lesson: Life has more to offer than the path of least resistance—but only if you dare to find out. —Ariana Yaptangco, senior beauty editor
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Michelle Trachtenberg’s Dawn Summers was not immediately beloved when she first appeared in season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Fans found her annoying, whiny, and frequently—and inconveniently—in need of saving. But she introduced a dynamic that only enriched the show for the better, thanks in large part to Trachtenberg’s refusal to portray her as anything other than what she was: a teenager.
In Buffy, the supernatural is a metaphor for normal teenage life, and just when Buffy was on the brink of becoming more superhuman than human, Dawn enters to drag her back down to earth, and the show back to its roots. As the rest of the Scooby Gang grows up, Dawn is the one still dealing with the harsh realities of adolescence, with feelings of inadequacy and being overlooked. Nowhere is this more poignant than in season six’s “Once More With Feeling.” Dawn acts out in a typically teenage way—stealing from the store—and accidentally summons a demon that turns the whole episode into a musical. And what could be more quintessentially Buffy than that? —Kathleen Walsh, contributor
This article originally appeared on GLAMOUR US