Hayden Panettiere Dead: Actress in Heroes, Nashville, Scream Dies

Hayden Panettiere, known for her roles in shows such as Heroes and Nashville, has died, according to an ABC News report. She was 36.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. 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,” her rep told ABC News in a statement.

The details around her death are unknown. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to her rep.

In addition to Heroes and Nashville, Panettiere’s credits also include the films I Love You, Beth Cooper, Scream 4 and Scream VI, and the TV movie Amanda Knox.

She was involved in a relationship with Ukrainian champion heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko from 2009-11 and 2013–18, and they had a daughter, daughter, Kaya, in 2014. Her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died in February 2023 of aortic valve complications at age 28.

Earlier this year, Panettiere releaser her raw and candid memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, where she opened up about growing up in the spotlight as a child star, her battles with addiction, postpartum depression and more.

Ahead of the book’s release in May, the actress spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about her biggest revelations from the book, including if she told people she would be writing about the personal stories.

“I was fiercely protective of people in my writing,” she told THR at the time. “I felt very strongly about my ability to tell my stories and make them entertaining enough to put in a book, without having to drag people through the mud. I had members of my team that I would bounce ideas off of, or ask their opinions about things like that I was writing.”

She added, “I mean, my publicist is also my dear friend and I trust her, so I leaned on her to know. And then I made sure that Vlad [Klitschko, Panettiere’s ex-fiancé and father of her daughter] wasn’t going to be upset with me. But other than that, I just had to speak my truth — and it’s mine alone.”

Panettiere earned her breakout role in 2006, playing the indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC sci-fi series Heroes. She starred on the series for four seasons.

She garnered more fame playing Juliette Barnes in the series Nashville from 2012 to 2018, and then as Kirby Reed in the Scream horror franchise, including 2011’s Scream 4 and 2023’s Scream VI.’

In her memoir, she also opened up about her struggles with Nashville, specifically how Juliette’s storyline started to resemble your own personal strife, such as her character’s postpartum depression and alcoholism.

Earlier credits included One Life to Live, Guiding Light, Malcolm in the Middle, The Object of My Affection, A Bug’s Life and Message in a Bottle.

MIke Barnes contributed to this report.