touchingly remembered her late Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Nicholas Brendon on Instagram Saturday - the day after his death aged 54.
Brendon played
His family indicated Friday in an edited version of their Instagram statement that he had 'passed in his sleep of natural causes.'
An earlier version of the statement had revealed: 'While it's no secret that Nicholas had struggles in the past, he was on medications and treatment to manage his diagnosis and he was optimistic about the future at the time of his passing.'
The nature of the 'diagnosis' was unclear, but Brendon had been frank in public about a number of health issues he had suffered, such as a congenital heart defect, addiction and a fall that resulted in the spinal condition cauda equina syndrome.
Gellar, 48, reacted to the news of his death by posting a 1998 photo of the two of them together along with a message memorializing both him and his character.
Sarah Michelle Gellar touchingly remembered her late Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Nicholas Brendon on Instagram Saturday, posting this 1998 photo of the two of them together
She started by quoting one of Xander's famous lines: 'They’ll never know how tough it is to be the one who isn’t chosen. To live so near to the spotlight, and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes, because nobody’s watching me.'
Gellar then added her own message in reference to the quotation: 'I saw you Nicky. I know you are at peace, in that big rocking chair in the sky.'
His Buffy co-star Alyson Hannigan later took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to the actor
The actress, who played Willow Rosenberg in Buffy, took to Instagram and shared a photo of them hugging and crying during an emotional scene
Emma Caulfield, who played Brendon's love interest in the series, also posted a tribute on her Instagram Story
'My heart is heavy. I can't put into words just yet how this has hit me,' she wrote about her costar alongside a clip of a scene of them dancing during the famous musical episode from season six
Pictured from left to right: Brendon, Hannigan, Gellar, and Cordelia Chase
His character was a core member of the Scooby gang in Buffy; pictured in 2000 Buffy season five portrait
Following his time on Buffy, Brendon's struggles with substance abuse and mental health became public, .
