Brittany Murphy 15 Years Later: Co-Stars on Final Film Knew Actress Was Struggling, Unsure How to Help

Remembering Brittany Murphy 15 years later. 

The actress passed away on Dec. 20, 2009. She was 32. 

Murphy's co-stars from her final film, Something Wicked, recently opened up about the struggles they witnessed on set, where "everybody around her knew that she was going through a hard time."

"She really deserved a different story. Her core is so good. Her spirit is so good. That was not a person who was out in the world to hurt or make people feel small. That was not a woman who deserved that story. But that was her story and that was why she was here, and that was all that was meant to be," actress Katie O'Grady told People.

The Portlandia star noted that Murphy's petite frame made it seem like she could easily be "scooped up."

"She was just a little bird that you wanted to be around, and you wanted to help," O'Grady told the outlet. 

O'Grady explained that Murphy's late husband, Simon Monjack, was very protective of the actress on set, even taking on the role of her makeup artist. 

"I personally did get the sense that they needed to be [and to] have their time alone," she said.

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Murphy would often spend all her time with Monjack, and although she didn't seem sick, she was noticeably low on energy and frail. 

"She just really wanted to do a good job, and she was putting all the energy, which was hardly any, into what she could do, even just walking to set or being on set. That felt like maybe that had been a lot for her at the time," O'Grady added.

Murphy died from pneumonia, and five months later Monjack died from a similar cause. Following her death, he denied any wrongdoing, including that he refused to allow her to see a doctor.