Goodbye, LonelyGirl15: Web drama moves on

By Gary Gentile

updated 8:37 p.m. ET Aug. 5, 2007

LOS ANGELES - LonelyGirl15 dies.

After more than a year and 260 episodes, 16-year-old Bree, the main character on the Web drama "LonelyGirl15," was killed off Friday night at the hands of the religious cult that had chased her for the lifegiving qualities of her rare blood type.

In her last appearance on the popular and influential Web show, Bree, portrayed by Jessica Lee Rose, lies lifeless on a table while her blood is transfused into one of the cult's elders. The monotone of her flat-lining heart pierces the silence as her devastated friends watch from a distance.

But her death was not in vain! Setting the show up for its second season, Bree reveals in a post-mortem voice mail that the cult, "The Order," is pursuing other girls with the same blood properties.

The Season One finale played out in 12 videos posted over a 12-hour period exclusively on MySpaceTV and the "LonelyGirl15" Web site.

Starting this week, the show will continue with the same title with the remaining characters weighing what to do with Bree's dire warning.

"I was real emotional, filming that," Rose said. "I'm really going to miss filming 'LonelyGirl.'"

No ‘cheesy’ death scene
Rose, who is a regular on the ABC Family show "Greek" and is in the upcoming film "Perfect Sport," said she didn't mind not having a more dramatic death scene.

FREE VIDEO Lonelygirl15 exposed Sept. 13, 2006: Creators of the popular video blog starring "Bree" call it an experiment in storytelling. MSNBC.com's Dara Brown reports. msnbc.com

"I didn't want it to be over the top or cheesy," she said.

Rose has come a long way since walking into an audition for a project titled "Children of Anchor Cove" in April 2006.

At first, she thought it was the kind of a scam they warned her about in film school — a series of Internet videos for which she would not be paid, at least for a while.

Rose kept her jobs working at an Abercrombie & Fitch store and a T.G.I. Friday's while filming the first few weeks of "LonelyGirl15."

But by September, the series had created a sensation, with stories appearing in major media outlets once it had been revealed that Bree was not a real 16-year-old posting video blogs on YouTube, but an actress playing a part in a scripted show.

New characters being added
The show continued to attract fans, and the cast developed into more of an ensemble. But as Rose's career began to take off, the creators decided it was time to bring the plot to a close.

"This was a character who was meant to do the ceremony," said Miles Beckett, one of the show's three writer-producers. "It's going to give the show a lot more space to breathe. Jessica is doing other things now, and we are excited about her future and her career."

Rose hasn't abandoned the Web. She is developing a new Web comedy that should launch later this year. And she has signed on to a TV project titled "E-lebrity," along with fellow online stars Taryn Southern and Stevie Ryan.

Meanwhile, "LonelyGirl15" will add new characters who will help battle the evil Order.

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