Tributes have been paid to actress Hayden Panettiere, star of the US TV shows Heroes and Nashville, who has died aged 36.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement given to the BBC and other media.
“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 played a cheerleader with superpowers in Heroes and had other memorable roles, including in films Remember the Titans and Raising Helen.
The details surrounding her death were not immediately available.
Panettiere’s father has asked for privacy “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss”, in a statement issued through her representative.
‘So gifted’
Oscar winner Viola Davis, who featured alongside Panettiere in the 2016 courtroom drama film Custody, shared a tribute to her former co-star on Instagram.
She said: “What an amazing talent you were…. so gifted.”
Davis’s husband Julius Tennon also appeared in the film with them, playing a court officer, and she noted how “Julius and I loved working with you…. an old, wise soul with such a deep heart”.
Davis added: “I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming. I saw this beautiful phoenix rising from the ashes. Your tests became your testimony, and your testimony became your legacy.”
Panettiere’s long-time friend and One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy-Lenz, who knew her since she was a child actress, said she was “crushed” by her death.
Sharing photos of them together online, she wrote: “I’m crushed. I knew the wild little blonde. Was she nine? Ten? I was eighteen. She ran through the Screen Gem studio hallways at 222 E44th St., laughing and playing games in between blocking and camera rehearsals.
“Long, unruly curls trailing behind her. She knew her lines and everyone else’s. 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.”
She added: “Everything seemed to be turning around. She was coming back to life, wasn’t she? It’s too young, and there’s still so much more life. And her daughter…. Hayden, you are surrounded by love. I’m sorry for every moment I didn’t reach out or check in. This can’t be real.
Cruel Intentions actress Selma Blair paid tribute on social media, saying: “I love you. Don’t be gone. Please”.
Singer Jojo described it as “devastating news”. On her Instagram story she wrote wrote: “I am so sorry to hear of her passing. Oh My God.”
Talk show host Rosie O’Donnell also commented: “‘Oh my God – heartbroken…”
Actors’ union Sag-Aftra, of which Panettiere was a longstanding member, says “our hearts are with her daughter, family, friends & fans”.
Sister, Sister actress Tia Mowry and Celebrity Big Brother star Courtney Stodden both simply shared heartbroken emojis.
Beginning her career as a child actor, Panettiere was just four years old when she was cast on the popular US soap opera One Life to Live.
She voiced Dot in Pixar’s A Bug’s Life before gaining wider recognition when she starred alongside Denzel Washington in the 2000 sports drama Remember The Titans.
She later rose to wider fame playing cheerleader Claire Bennet in cult sci-fi series Heroes, which ran from 2006 to 2010.
Her role as up-and-coming country singer Juliette Barnes in TV series Nashville earned her two Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress.
Success and struggles
Panettiere’s career spanned three decades, with a string of roles in other hit shows and films, including the Scream horror franchise and romantic comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper.
Her Scream co-star Melissa Barrera paid tribute to the actress in an Instagram story, writing “rest in peace sweet Hayden”, alongside a broken heart emoji.
Fellow Scream films co-star David Arquette wrote: “I love you Hayden.”
Earlier this year, Panettiere released a memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, recounting the struggles of growing up as a child actor and her experiences with addiction, abuse and later recovery.
In May, Panettiere spoke to the BBC’s US partner CBS News about her mother taking her as an “eight-month-old baby into audition rooms”.
“It went from there and progressed into 50 commercials by the time I was five… It just never stopped,” she said.
Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya with her ex-partner, Ukrainian former world heavyweight champion boxer, Wladimir Klitschko.
In 2015, after giving birth to her daughter, Panettiere revealed she had entered a treatment facility to help with postpartum depression.
“It’s something a lot of women experience,” she told US talk show Live With Kelly And Michael in 2015.
“You think it’s, ‘I feel negative feelings towards my child, I want to injure or hurt my child.’ I’ve never, ever had those feelings. Some women do.
“It’s something that needs to be talked about. Women need to know that they’re not alone, and that it does heal.”
In her memoir she wrote about her decision to give full custody to her former partner in 2018.
She told podcaster Jay Shetty in May that “the idea that anyone would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking and couldn’t be further from the truth”.
Source: BBC
