Brittany Murphy Was Having a Hard Time Months Before Her Death, Says Costar (Exclusive)

On a hot day in June 2009, Brittany Murphy was busy on set. The prison cell where she was filming was bubbling, the crew was sweating, and the star wanted to make sure everyone had enough water. Six months later, Murphy was found dead in her home.

The 32-year-old was found passed out in the bathroom of the home she shared with her British screenwriter husband Simon Monjack and mother Sharon. The cause of death was given as pneumonia.

Costars from their last film Something evil Remember a frail star who was a shell of his former self in the months before his untimely death 15 years ago.

“She was just a little bird that you wanted to be with and help,” Katie O’Grady tells PEOPLE.

She is in her last days Uptown girl Star had become increasingly ill and had flu-like symptoms. She fainted in her mother’s arms after she told her, “Mom, I can’t catch my breath. Help me,” it says The Hollywood Reporter.

“She was really suffering from pneumonia, very anemic and taking medication, and all of that combined killed her,” said Coroner Asst. Chief Ed Winter told PEOPLE at the time. Five months later, Monjack died. His autopsy was eerily similar to Murphy’s and listed the cause of death as anemia and pneumonia.

There had been alarming signs on set about Murphy’s mental and physical condition Something evilrecalls O’Grady. The actress first met Murphy on set in Eugene, Oregon. She recalls that she was “frail” and visibly “going through a difficult time”, with the cast and crew generally feeling like they were “gentle around her”.

“She was ‘delicate’ and so small that you could easily ‘pick her up’ with little effort,” says O’Grady.

“Her eyes were so sunken and she just seemed so sad.” Something evil said makeup artist Trista Jordan in the 2021 documentary What happened, Brittany Murphy?now streaming on Max. “She wasn’t herself. She was in so much pain. She had Bambi legs and couldn’t stand up.”

O’Grady had noticed Murphy had limited energy. But she invested everything she had into her work – and into making sure that others were well.

“You just felt a really deep kindness, a gentle spirit with Brittany, that just made you feel comfortable and gentle,” she says.

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Despite an impressive CV that also included the years 1995 Clueless1999s Girl, interrupted2003 Just Married And 2004s Little black bookMurphy never acted like the famous star she was. Instead, she channeled her energy into making others feel special.

When a younger co-star was having trouble knowing where to look during a close-up, Murphy took the time to teach her about eye wrinkles and where to look depending on which side of her face the camera was on , recalls O’Grady.

In another instance, another co-star, October Moore, recalls preparing to film a dramatic, confrontational scene with Murphy. The nerves grew as the two sat across from each other at a high bistro table and Moore couldn’t stop fiddling with her slip-on shoes. She looked up nervously and met Murphy’s gaze – and the actress winked. “Just take them off,” she whispered playfully.

“It was a great act of kindness from a seasoned professional to a very new actor,” Moore says. “She made me feel very comfortable and relaxed and just had this kind of effervescent sweetness.”

When it came time to complete the project, Murphy used her last reserves of energy, O’Grady says, but she will never forget the starlet’s “presence” as she placed her “little hand” in hers and told her, “” “I’m so glad to meet you,” as they parted ways for the last time.

“Part of her was still so present and loved taking the time to do this in such a gentle way. It was such a kind and loving farewell,” says O’Grady. “She created moments and created moments with everyone she met as best she could and with the energy she had.”

In her final years, Murphy lost weight dramatically and there were rumors that she was suffering from an eating disorder, which she once denied. Murphy’s conspicuously low energy had worried O’Grady.

O’Grady recalls that Murphy was physically and mentally weak and had no one to adequately support her. “I just feel like she could have used someone in her life who was maybe strong.”

Although she was known for her extremely close relationship with her mother, O’Grady and Moore said they never saw Sharon on set. However, Monjack was a constant presence and incredibly “protective” of Murphy, says O’Grady.

But O’Grady didn’t feel his presence was a positive thing. “We know when we meet someone who is not well, and we immediately feel that this woman needs to be protected, that this woman needs strength, energy and support,” she says.

Six months after saying goodbye to her co-stars, Murphy died, indefinitely postponing the film’s release and leaving the cast Something evil in a state of shock. O’Grady wished Murphy had a “different story” and wondered what twists led to her death, “because there are 100 little stops along the way.”

The film was eventually released in 2014, but O’Grady and Moore remember the premiere as more of a somber occasion than a celebration. There was a “feeling of sadness” among the cast, and O’Grady decided never to see the film.

Today, O’Grady feels comforted by the fact that Murphy probably would have wanted the project seen, and says she’s willing to see the film and the co-star who made her – and everyone around her – so deeply touched to pay his last respects.

“She really deserves a different story. Your core is so good. Her spirit is so good,” she says. “This was not a person who was in the world to hurt or make people feel small. This was not a woman who deserved this story. But that was her story and that’s why she was here, and that’s all that was meant to be.”