Hayden Panettiere remembered after death at 36

Hayden Panettiere, the actor who grew up on screen before starring in “Heroes,” “Nashville” and a string of films, is being remembered by co-stars and friends after her death Sunday at age 36.

Her father, Skip Panettiere, announced her death in a statement, saying she “was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen.”

Panettiere’s career began almost as soon as her life did. According to the BBC, she appeared in her first commercial when she was 11 months old and was acting in “One Life to Live” by age 4. At 8, she joined “Guiding Light,” where Bethany Joy Lenz later remembered her as a child actor with unusual command and insight.

“I’m crushed,” Lenz wrote on Instagram. She recalled Panettiere running through studio hallways in the late 1990s, “laughing and playing games in between blocking and camera rehearsals.”

“She knew her lines and everyone else’s,” Lenz wrote. “Her intelligence was astonishing. She understood scenes and nuance and human struggle like no child I’d ever seen on camera. And she’d sit with you for a great conversation, then giggle and go play.”

Panettiere’s film and television credits included the voice of Princess Dot in Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life,” “Remember the Titans,” “Raising Helen,” “Bring It On: All or Nothing,” “Heroes,” “Nashville,” “Scream 4” and “Scream VI.” In “Heroes,” she played Claire, a cheerleader with regenerative powers central to the show’s “save the cheerleader, save the world” storyline. In “Nashville,” she played troubled country singer Juliette Barnes, a role that earned her two Golden Globe nominations during the show’s six-year run.

The success came alongside hardships Panettiere later described publicly and in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” published in May. “From a very young age, I lost the chance to have a normal childhood, friends, relationships, and my privacy,” she wrote, according to the BBC. She said she was “groomed” to be an actor and told The Hollywood Reporter, “I was like a little soldier and I always have been. No was never an option.”

In recent years, Panettiere spoke about addiction, postpartum depression and giving up primary custody of her daughter, including during a 2022 “Red Table Talk” episode guest-hosted by Kelly Osbourne. Osbourne wrote on Instagram that Panettiere was “such a good friend to me” and said they shared an understanding of “how difficult it is to grow up in the spotlight, and how isolating it can feel even when surrounded by so many people.” She added, “I will never forget you, Hayden, and I will always believe you deserved better.”

Panettiere also discussed those struggles on “CBS Mornings” and on Jay Shetty’s podcast “On Purpose,” where she spoke about the death of her brother Jansen in 2023. Shetty wrote after her death, “Truly heartbroken by this news,” adding, “Our friendship had just begun and I was so moved by the conversation we shared earlier this year.”

Viola Davis, who starred with Panettiere in the 2016 film “Custody,” called her “an amazing talent” and “an old, wise soul with such a deep heart.” Davis wrote, “I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming.”

Bryan Fuller, a writer for “Heroes,” said Panettiere was a muse who was “wise beyond her years.” Other colleagues and friends shared brief messages of grief. “I love you. Don’t be gone,” Selma Blair wrote. David Arquette, who starred with Panettiere in “Scream 4,” wrote, “I love you Hayden.”