Mammoth child star Sophie Nyweide has died at the age of 24, her family has confirmed. The young actress was best known for taking on the role of the daughter of Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal’s characters in the 2009 romantic drama.
Sophie's family announced the tragic news via a paid obituary, where they described her as "a kind and trusting girl". They said: "Sophie was a kind and trusting girl. Often this left her open to being taken advantage of by others. She wrote and drew voraciously, and much of this art depicts the depth she had, and it also represents the pain she suffered. Many of her writings and artwork are roadmaps of her struggles and traumas.
"Even with those roadmaps, diagnoses and her own revelations, those closest to her, plus therapists, law enforcement officers and others who tried to help her, are heartbroken their efforts couldn’t save her from her fate.
"She self-medicated to deal with all the trauma and shame she held inside, and it resulted in her death. She repeatedly said she would ‘handle it’ on her own and was compelled to reject the treatment that might possibly have saved her life."
The obituary detailed that Nyweide died on Monday, April 14. It also asked that in lieu of gifts or flowers, they would ask people to make a donation to RAINN in Sophie’s name, a charity that supports survivors of sexual violence.
Sophie landed her first role in the 2006 production of Bella, taking the lead - which was written by Alejandro Gómez Monteverde and appearing alongside Eduardo Verastegui and Tammy Blanchard. The movie went on to win the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The American actress went on to appear in a number of films by the age of 10. She followed in her mother's footsteps, Shelly Gibson, who was also an actress in the movie Dust to Malibu.
Sophie is said to have "begged" her grandmother to become an actress when she watched the 2003 movie, Something's Gotta Give. Speaking of her daughter's passion for acting, proud mum Shelley previously said: "She grew up in this movie theatre and slept in the movie theatre and had a little bed in the projection booth and watched many movies."
