Hayden Panettiere attends the LA premiere of ‘Blonde’ at TCL Chinese Theatre on Sept. 13, 2022, in Hollywood, California. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images)
Hayden Panettiere was remembered on Monday as an “amazing talent.”
The actress, who launched a career as a child actor, including an appearance in Remember the Titans, and later became a TV star with leading roles in Heroes and Nashville, died over the weekend at age 36, according to her representatives.
Panettiere also starred in Raising Helen, Ice Princess and several Scream films.
Panettiere’s former co-stars and industry colleagues paid tribute to her this week.
“What an amazing talent you were….so gifted,” Viola Davis, the Oscar-winning actress who co-starred with Panettiere in the 2016 film Custody, wrote in the caption of an Instagram post Monday morning.
Davis described Panettiere as “an old, wise soul with such a deep heart,” adding, “I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming.”
SAG-AFTRA, a union representing performers and broadcasters, wrote in a social media post, “Our hearts are with her daughter, family, friends & fans.”
Bethany Joy Lenz, who starred alongside Panettiere on the soap opera Guiding Light in the late 1990s, paid tribute to her former co-star in an Instagram post.
“I’m crushed. I knew the wild little blonde. Was she nine? Ten? I was eighteen,” Lenz wrote alongside a carousel of photos, including several shots of Panettiere as a young girl. “She ran through the Screen Gem studio hallways at 222 E44th St. laughing and playing games in between Guiding Light blocking and camera rehearsals. Long, unruly curls trailing behind her. She knew her lines and everyone else’s. Her intelligence was astonishing.”
Lenz wrote that Panettiere “understood scenes and nuance and human struggle like no child I’d ever seen on camera” and would “sit with you for a great conversation, then giggle and go play.”
“These are moments of how I knew you, in glimpses over 26 years. I don’t know how to process this. I am praying for you to know the peace of God now and always,” she added.
Heather Matarazzo also remembered Panettiere in a post on Instagram.
“Devastated…….. We first met on the [Long Island Rail Road] traveling to NYC for auditions when we were both kids,” she wrote. “Every time our paths crossed, my heart always filled up. She was special. She was a Sprite of a being and such a talent. Truly a light…. Love you, Hayden.”
Panettiere died in South Carolina, her representative told ABC News early Monday morning, and an investigation into her death is “ongoing.”
Further details surrounding Panettiere’s death were not immediately available.
Panettiere had been candid about her struggles from child stardom through adulthood. She released a memoir in May titled This Is Me: A Reckoning.
She was the mother to one child, her daughter Kaya Klitschko, whom she had in 2014 with her ex-fiancé, heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
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Disney’s live-action Moana topped the box office this weekend, although with lower numbers than expected.
The film, which stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and newcomer Catherine Laga’aia, brought in $43 million to debut at number one, Box Office Mojo reports.
According to Variety, that amount was well below the projected $60 to $65 million the film, with a budget of $250 million, was expected to take in. It’s also well below previous Disney live-action remakes, including 2025’s Lilo & Stitch, which debuted with a box office of over $100 million.
Last week’s number one, Minions & Monsters, brought in another $20.5 million to land at two this week, with Toy Story 5 at three with $18.5 million.
Another new release, the supernatural horror film Evil Dead Burn, debuted at four with a $13.7 million, followed by Young Washington, at five, with $6.4 million.
Here are the top 10 films at the box office:
1. Moana — $43 million 2. Minions & Monsters — $20.5 million 3. Toy Story 5 — $18.5 million 4. Evil Dead Burn — $13.7 million 5. Young Washington — $6.4 million 7. Obsession — $3.8 million 8. Supergirl — $3.6 million 9. Disclosure Day — $3.2 million 10. Backrooms — $1.5 million
