Hayden Panettiere, Heroes and Nashville Star, Dies at 36

US actress Hayden Panettiere, best known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, has died at the age of 36. The death was confirmed by a representative to US network ABC on Sunday, as reported by The Journal. No cause of death has been announced.

A statement from her father Skip read: "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." He also asked for privacy for the family as they "take time to process this unimaginable loss."

A Career in the Spotlight

Panettiere's career began in childhood, with early roles in soap operas before gaining recognition in the 2000 film Remember The Titans alongside Denzel Washington and voicing Dot in Pixar's A Bug's Life (1998). She rose to global fame as Claire Bennet in the superhero drama Heroes and later starred for six seasons as country singer Juliette Barnes on Nashville. The role earned her two Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress, and her singing on the show produced 11 entries on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, as detailed by The Journal.

Her film credits include Bring It On: All Or Nothing (2006), Raising Helen, and the Scream franchise, where she played Kirby Reed in both Scream 4 and Scream VI.

Personal Struggles and Legacy

The actress had previously been open about her struggles with addiction and mental health, which both ie and The Journal reported were influenced by the pressures of the industry. In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published earlier this year, she discussed her mental health journey, the loss of her brother, and her 2018 decision to give full custody of her daughter Kaya to former partner Wladimir Klutchko. In a May podcast with Jay Shetty, Panettiere spoke about the challenges of that period, saying, "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."

Kaya, now 11, was born in 2014, and Panettiere and Klitschko dated from 2009 to 2018.

Sag-Aftra, of which Panettiere was a member since 1994, mourned her passing in a post on X, as reported by The Journal.