Blake Lively is remembering two familiar faces from her screen days while delivering a simple message to fans: be kinder than you think you need to be.
The It Ends With Us actress, 38, paid tribute to her former Ice Princess costars Hayden Panettiere and Michelle Trachtenberg, who died about a year apart.
Sharing a montage from the 2005 Disney movie on Instagram Stories, Lively wrote, “Be. Kind. You never know what others are going through.”
“Thank you to both these women for all the joy you brought so many,” she added.
The tribute brought the two actresses back together on screen, with Trachtenberg playing ambitious figure skater Casey Carlyle and Panettiere portraying her rival Gen.
Panettiere’s family announced her death on August 16, just days before her 37th birthday.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Alan Panettiere, said in a statement to People magazine.
“She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen,” he added.
Police said there were no “signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.” An official cause of death has not yet been released.
Meanwhile, Trachtenberg, who starred alongside Lively on Gossip Girl, died at 39 on February 26, 2025. The New York City medical examiner determined that complications from diabetes mellitus caused her death and ruled it natural.
For Lively, the tribute was less about Hollywood nostalgia and more about remembering the people behind the headlines — and reminding everyone that you never really know what someone else may be carrying.
