United Kingdom, June 30 -- Debby Ryan "lost a dear friend" in Jeff Baena when he took his own life.

The 32-year-old actress worked with the late screenwriter on his films Horse Girl and Spin Me Round and took to social media on Sunday (30.06.25) - which would have been his 48th birthday - to pay a legnhty tribute to her friend.

She wrote on Instagram: "Bear with me, I've never been a public griever, and have a hard time sharing fragile feelings with strangers.

"Meanwhile I've thought about him every day for the past six months. Ok see at the beginning of the year, I lost a dear friend, cherished collaborator and mentor in Jeff Baena. It's been very hard and heavy, and a lot of people lost him, because he was like the nucleus of this wh...