Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

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After musical drama Nashville drew to a close in 2018, Panettiere wasn't seen on screen for another five years.

Although she earned two Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the drama, the actress instead turned to the genres of horror and thriller in her last few films.

When she reappeared in 2023, Panettiere's appearance in horror Scream VI marked a return for her celebrated character Kirby Reed. After originally appearing in Scream 4 as one of killer Ghostface's targets, Reed arrived back in the franchise as an FBI agent, seeking to hunt the villain down.

The next year an appearance as a lead followed in Amber Alert, as she and her ride-share partner played by Tyler James Williams attempt to find a missing girl.

Action-horror A Breed Apart marked the actress's penultimate film - a survival movie about a group of influencers' attempts to survive on a remote island infested with wild dogs.

And at the beginning of this year, Panettiere took the lead role in her final film - the psychological thriller Sleepwalker.

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A background actor for Scream 4 says her on set experience with Hayden Panettiere is ingrained in her memory.

In a post on X, Kathryn Henzler says: "I want to share something about Hayden Panettiere that will forever stay with me. My twin sister and I were background actors on the set of Scream 4, and were in the scene where Stab-A-Thon takes place in a barn."

She says it was hot, dark, and "buggy" throughout the whole night of shooting.

"Yet Hayden was nothing but nice to everyone around her, even chatting with background actors and complimenting their acting choices," the actor says.

Image source, Getty Images

Hayden Panettiere's career spanned three decades with a string of roles in hit TV shows and films, including the Scream horror film franchise and the TV drama series Nashville.

She was just four years old when she was cast on the popular US soap opera One Life to Live.

Here are some pictures from different stages of her life and career:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Ian Youngs
Culture reporter

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Hayden Panettiere lived most of her life in the spotlight - from success as a child star to lead roles in hit TV shows Heroes and Nashville - but also endured struggles that went along with the pressures of fame.

She appeared in her first commercial when she was 11 months old. Her mother Lesley Vogel was an actress and set her daughter on the same path.

By the age of four, Hayden was in US TV show One Life to Live, then at eight joined another soap opera, Guiding Light.

Her natural acting ability was evident, but the burgeoning childhood career came at a cost.

"From a very young age, I lost the chance to have a normal childhood, friends, relationships, and my privacy," Panettiere wrote in her revealing autobiography, This Is Me, which was published earlier this year.

• You can read our full obituary for Hayden Panettiere here

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Just as she was finding fame as a cheerleader in Heroes, Hayden Panettiere put herself front and centre of the campaign to "save the whale" and also protested against dolphin hunting.

Joining a group of activists, her exploits were featured in the Oscar-winning documentary, The Cove, which depicted the practice of an annual mass slaughtering of dolphins in the bay of small Japanese town Taiji.

On a trip to Taiji after the documentary's release, Panettiere called for an end to the dolphin hunt, but described in a blog on the Whaleman website, external how she was met with opposition from locals.

Image source, Peter Carette Archive via Getty Images

"The majority of people living there don’t know about the dolphin hunts and would never condone them if they did. And for the few who do eat dolphin meat, there is a serious human health concern. Dolphin meat is highly toxic and isn’t safe for people to eat," the actress explained at the time.

Panettiere also led a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington DC against commercial whaling when she was still a teenager, arguing: "Dolphins and whales are some of the most contaminated animals on the planet, and like canaries in a coal mine they are telling us that something is seriously wrong with our oceans.”

We've been looking through Hayden Panettiere's filmography as the morning's unfolded - here are some images from the films and TV shows she was most known for.

Image source, Alamy

Image source, NBC Universal via Getty Images

Image source, Alamy

Image source, Alamy

Image source, Getty Images

Bethany Joy Lenz, a long-time friend of Panettiere, says she is "crushed" by the news of her death.

Writing on Instagram, Lenz, who appeared in Grey’s Anatomy and Dexter, says she cannot "understand how this is real. 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."

Lenz adds that she "always felt such joy seeing her when we were lucky enough to cross paths", adding that Panettiere "understood scenes and nuance and human struggle like no child I’d ever seen on camera",

"Hayden, you are surround by love. I’m sorry for every moment I didn’t reach out or check in. This can’t be real."

Yasmin Rufo
Culture reporter

Panettiere began dating actor Brian Hickerson in 2018.

Their relationship later became the subject of a domestic violence case, with Hickerson pleading no contest to two felony counts of injuring Panettiere and being sentenced to 45 days in jail.

In 2020, Panettiere publicly addressed the allegations, saying she wanted to speak out "with the hope that my story will empower others in abusive relationships to get the help they need and deserve".

She added: "I am prepared to do my part to make sure this man never hurts anyone again."

Alan Jackson, her attorney, said in a statement at the time: "After suffering for years as the victim of psychological, emotional and severe physical abuse, Hayden Panettiere has begun the process of taking back her life."

She later described the relationship in her memoir, published earlier this year, explaining how the abuse contributed to her struggles with alcohol. She wrote that drinking allowed her to escape from painful realities, including "Brian's abuse, Kaya's absence, and a career I'd chosen to hide from".

She entered an eight-month treatment programme in 2020 and later said that getting sober allowed her to regain clarity and rebuild her life.

Image source, Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Hayden Panettiere has died aged 36. Here is a quick recap of what we know - and what we don't - about her death:

• Confirming reports, her father Skip Panettiere described his daughter as "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 on-screen" - we've got his full statement below
• No cause of death has been confirmed and her family has called for privacy "to process this unimaginable loss"
• Panettiere started out as a child actor, before finding acclaim in roles in TV series including Heroes and Nashville
• She also starred on the big screen in the Scream horror films - and found an enduring fanbase for playing Britney Allen in Bring It On: All or Nothing as a teenager
• Our culture reporter writes there have been struggles behind the actress's success, and a recently released memoir detailed her struggles with addiction throughout her twenties and the death of her younger brother, Jansen, in 2023
• Tributes have been paid online since the news was confirmed. Fellow US actress Selma Blair said on Instagram. "I love you. Don't be gone. Please." Meanwhile, Oscar winner Viola Davis called Panettiere am "amazing talent" and said she was an "old, wise soul with such a deep heart"

We'll continue to bring you more reaction as it comes in.

Image source, Getty Images

In one of the final interviews before her death, Hayden Panettiere said she felt like she had "a lot more life to live".

Speaking to the Jay Shetty Podcast in May, Panettiere said: "I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity and that means I've closed one door and another door is open."

She added she could "feel all the.. exciting possibilities. I feel like I have a lot more life to live."

The comments came at the end of a wide-ranging two-hour interview in which Panettiere discussed suffering from post-partum depression, the experience of having a stalker and her relationship with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

On the birth of her daughter in 2014, Panettiere said she knew something was "terribly wrong" immediately following her birth.

She said she turned to alcohol to cope with the "stress and anxiety" of post-partum depression, which over time only "made things worse".

TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan says Panettiere's death will come as a "shock" to fans.

He says that many will remember her as Claire in the hit series Heroes, adding she had an "effortless appeal" in the range of roles she played.

"She really had a common touch about her. I think she was incredibly relatable in all of the roles she was able to play; she made it look easy. When it comes to acting, that is a very hard thing to do”.

He says the outpour of reactions to her death show that she had "a real connection with many people”.

"It felt like everybody knew her from one thing or another,” he adds.

Tom Richardson
BBC Newsbeat

Image source, PlayStation

Hayden Panettiere was best known for her work in TV and film, but she also won over millions of fans via some beloved roles in video games.

The star voiced Kairi in 2002's Kingdom Hearts - a collaboration between Disney and developer Square Enix.

The game, which blended the Japanese game-maker's role-playing style with the worlds and characters of the Magic Kingdom, was a surprise hit.

Panettiere returned for its sequel, released three years later.

She also appeared as the protagonist of 2015's "playable horror movie" Until Dawn. Panettiere turned in a fully motion-captured performance for the PlayStation 4 sleeper hit, made by UK-based studio Supermassive games.

Panettiere's performance as "final girl" Sam was widely praised, and one of the game's writers, Graham Reznick, said it was "hard to overstate how important [she] was to the success of Until Dawn".

"Being able to play a character not just with her voice but her actual likeness - made a huge difference," he writes in a post on Bluesky, external.

Yasmin Rufo
Culture reporter

Image source, Reuters

Hayden Panettiere began working in entertainment as a baby. She started modelling at eight-months-old and appeared in her first commercial for a Playskool toy train at 11 months.

By the age of four, she had landed her first major acting role, playing Sarah Roberts on the US soap opera One Life to Live.

She went on to appear in commercials and television throughout her childhood, including a long-running role as Lizzie Spaulding in Guiding Light.

Panettiere also began building a film career, voicing Dot in the Disney Pixar film A Bug's Life and appearing in Remember the Titans at the age of 10, playing the daughter of Denzel Washington's character's coach.

Her work as a child actor earned her a Young Artist Award for Remember the Titans, while her work on A Bug's Life also earned her a Grammy nomination.

By her mid-teens, Panettiere had already built up more than a decade of experience in front of the camera.

Image source, Getty Images

Oscar winner Viola Davis has paid tribute to her former co-star Hayden Panettiere following the death of the actress.

"What an amazing talent you were... so gifted," Davis wrote on Instagram, describing Panettiere as an "old, wise soul with such a deep heart".

"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," adds Davis, who starred alongside Panettiere in The Architect in 2006 and Custody from 2016.

"Your tests became your testimony, and your testimony became your legacy. You will be remembered. Rest well, Hayden," she adds.

Maddie Lake
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

In 2023, grief struck Panettiere when her brother Jansen died aged 28 from an enlarged heart.

“He was my only sibling, and it was my job to protect him,” she told People magazine the following year. “When I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul.”

The actor said she “will always be heartbroken about it”, adding: “I will never be able to get over it. No matter how many years go by, I will never get over his loss.”

The grief she said also affected her physically. "I just ballooned out," she told People.

"It didn't matter what I did, what I ate. I know stress and cortisol running through your body can do that. Now I think my body was protecting itself, shielding itself from the world."

In a tribute she posted to him in 2025, she said she prayed that he was in "a beautiful place", adding, "I'll see you again".

Yasmin Rufo
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Hayden Panettiere became a household name after playing cheerleader Claire Bennet in the hit sci-fi series Heroes, which ran from 2006 to 2010 and told the story of ordinary people who have superhuman abilities. She starred on the series for four seasons.

Her character had the ability to heal herself, and the show's famous tagline was "save the cheerleader, save the world”.

Panettiere also dated her co-star Milo Ventimiglia during filming.

Image source, Getty Images

More reaction has been coming in expressing shock and sadness at Hayden Panettiere's death.

American TV host Rosie O’Donnell has shared a picture of Panettiere on Instagram with the caption: "Oh my god – heartbroken."

Meanwhile, fans have also been sharing messages under Panettiere's final Instagram post.

"This one hurts BAD," Gabrielle Egan, known as bbyegan, posted. "Just watched Bring It On with my daughter the other night and told her how iconic Hayden was... she was obsessed... RIP sweet girl."

Keturah Maree writes: "So devastated. I remember as a kid how much you captivated my screen, from Bring It On to Ice Princess always one of my faves."

The actress speaks about her role in Nashville and passion for singing, in BBC archive footage from the early 2010s.

"I started very very young, but I did have a really amazing childhood, and kind of got the best of both worlds," she tells BBC Breakfast in October 2010.

Watch Hayden Pannetiere talking about her life and career in this short video clip:

Yasmin Rufo
Culture reporter

Earlier this year, Hayden Panettiere released her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, reflecting on the struggles of growing up as a child actor and her experiences with addiction, abuse and motherhood.

She wrote of the relentless nature of growing up in the entertainment industry and told the BBC's US partner CBS News that her mother was taking 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.

Her memoir also includes her struggles with mental health, addiction throughout her twenties and the loss of her younger brother, Jansen.

Image source, Getty Images

After the birth of her daughter, Kaya, in 2014, Panettiere revealed that she had entered treatment for postpartum depression.

In 2018 she gave full custody of her daughter to her former partner, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

She said: “I was struggling with mental health and anxiety and the postpartum and having to act my way through it and just feeling like I completely lost myself.”

Speaking to podcaster Jay Shetty after the release of her memoir in May, Panettiere said it was "heartbreaking" that people believed she had simply given up her child, saying that this was "couldn't be further from the truth".

Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, NBC via Getty Images

Image source, NBC via Getty Images

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Image source, Getty Images