Abigail Breslin honors late My Sister's Keeper costar Evan Ellingson: 'A wonderful and sweet soul'

Abigail Breslin is paying tribute to her late My Sister's Keeper costar Evan Ellingson, who died at 35 on Sunday.

The actress remembered Ellingson, a former child actor who played her older brother Jesse Fitzgerald in the 2009 film, as a "kind, funny and extremely talented human being" and asked fans not to speculate on the details surrounding his death in an Instagram post on Monday.

"Evan was a genuinely thoughtful person who cared so much about turning in the best performance, which he accomplished. Some of his scenes in MSK still give me chills," she wrote. "He was also silly, funny, a prankster, a lover of Red Bull (I hated the smell of Red Bull 😂) and he was energetic and the life of the party."

Although Breslin "didn't keep in touch" with Ellingson following the film's release, she noted that he "always stayed in my mind as a wonderful and sweet soul, one I am grateful to have crossed paths with" and added, "My prayers and condolences are with his family at this difficult time."

"Evan, I know Heaven will welcome you with open arms," she continued. "Your time on this earth may have been, devastatingly, short. Your humor, exuberance, kindness and bright light will linger forever. Sending you peace on your journey to the great beyond and who knows… maybe one day, I'll meet you in Montana. Xx, abster."

Breslin's Montana comment is a reference to the end of My Sister's Keeper, where it is revealed that the Fitzgerald family visit the state each year in honor of their late family member Kate's (Sofia Vassilieva) birthday. The drama, which also starred Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin, followed Anna Fitzgerald (Breslin), a daughter who was born with the hope of helping her older sister Kate amid her battle with leukemia.

Breslin also asked that the public not speculate on the details surrounding Ellingson's cause of death "out of respect for his family including his daughter" and shared a snapshot of herself, Ellingson, and Vassilieva from the 2009 movie.

Ellingson — who had roles on CSI: Miami, Bones, 24, and more — was found dead in a bedroom in Fontana, Calif., per the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's coroner's division. A cause of death has not yet been determined.

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