Trivia

Speaks Russian.

She was the first choice of Catherine Hardwicke (director of Twilight (2008)) to play the role of "Bella Swan". However, she wasn't able to take the role due to scheduling conflicts.

She worked with Sarah Michelle Gellar on the long-running All My Children (1970) in the mid-'90s before Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) and they were good friends. Sarah was the one who recommended Michelle for the part of "Dawn".

Was able to sneak a souvenir--a wooden stake--from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) set when the show ended.

Said the last line ever in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) series.

Studied ballet as a child, which helped her perfect her skating abilities for Ice Princess (2005).

Was a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) long before being cast as "Dawn Summers".

Good friends with fellow Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) star, Seth Green.

In 2012 she did a public service announcement against bullying. It was done in conjunction with the release of the film, Bully (2011).

Is of German and Russian Jewish descent.

Hobbies include swimming, ice skating, and writing poems.

Attended Notre Dame High School. She graduated with awards in Social Studies and Religion and was also named under the California Scholarship Federation.

Attended Isaac Asimov Public School 99 for elementary school.

Was submitted for Emmy consideration for her guest-starring role on House M.D. (2004).

Grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Her grandparents live in Israel.

Michelle collects Barbies and has over 50 of them.

Played the main female role in U.S. band Trapt's "Echo" music video clip in 2004.

Spent the summer of 2005 as a non-paid apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.

Has separately played the daughter of both actors who played the young married couple Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder in Little House on the Prairie (1974). She played Melissa Gilbert's daughter in A Holiday for Love (1996) and played Dean Butler's daughter in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997).

She helped President Bill Clinton launch The Coalition for a Drug Free America campaign.

Michelle was in a Kohl's commercial with Hilary Duff.

Filming the Disney movie Ice Princess (2005) in Toronto, Canada. (April 2004)

Voted #27 on the 2011 Maxim "Hot 100" list.

Ranked #86 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.

Attended Bay Academy Junior High School in Brooklyn, New York.

Participated in the golf tournament in Jamaica hosted by Carmen Electra.

Also attended PS 188 throughout kindergarten. Was in the Gifted and Talented program where her teacher was Mrs. Gomez.

Filming Black Christmas (2006), in Vancouver, Canada. (February 2006)