Ever since her iconic role as Sheryl, the fiery daughter of Coach Yoast in Remember the Titans, Hayden Panettiere burst onto the Hollywood scene like a cannonball. We know her from a number of our favorite TV shows and movies, like Heroes and Bring It On: All or Nothing, and over the years her name has become synonymous with success. Since 2018, however, Panettiere hasn’t been in any TV shows or movies, practically disappearing from Hollywood. Now, after returning to the spotlight after over four years, we understand why.
The last project Panettiere worked on was the ABC/CMT musical drama Nashville in which she sold out stadiums as our favorite country superstar Juliette Barnes. The role was perfect for Panettiere, who also experienced struggle in her early musical career, telling Vulture that she left the music industry because she was “a puppet, basically.” She felt so connected to her Nashville character that when she read the script, she said, “I understand. I know what that is.”
Her role as Barnes was a nice departure from the cheerleader character we often saw her as. Even as far back as Remember the Titans, Panettiere seemed to always be cheering for a sports team in some way or another. Panettiere admitted that typecasting was a problem for her, and after playing three cheerleaders in three separate shows and films, she expressed difficulty escaping the box she’d been placed in.
You might recall her most easily as the cheerleader Claire Bennet from the wildly successful superhero TV show Heroes, a character who could famously walk through fire, impale herself, and break every bone in her body without so much as a scratch. (“Save the cheerleader, save the world”, anyone?) Or perhaps you remember her as Britney Allen, the lead cheerleader from Bring It On: All or Nothing. Or better yet, as Beth Cooper, the cheerleader from I Love You, Beth Cooper. All were widely entertaining roles and Panettiere, as always, brought her usual flair to each and every one.
Of course, we can’t forget her scene-stealing role as Kirby in Scream 4. No cheerleader here, just another example of how captivating Panettiere is when she’s in front of the camera. It was post-Kirby that Panettiere finally got to flex her acting chops outside the cheerleader roles she’d previously been stuck in. On the outside, it appeared that the actress was inching closer to a career she’d always wanted, but when Nashville ended in 2018, so did Panettiere’s acting career.
What has Hayden Panettiere been up to since Nashville?
Prior to her recent interview with People magazine in which Panettiere opened up about her time away from Hollywood, the actress lived a relatively private life. Apart from the occasional interview or YouTube video, she was seen and heard from very little, saving her time in front of the camera for when she was in character.
In the middle of shooting Nashville, Panettiere publically withdrew herself from the show to check into a rehab facility. At the time, she had been vocal about her battle with postpartum depression following the birth to her daughter with Ukrainian Olympic boxer, Wladimir Klitschko. She eventually returned to Nashville and finished her characters story arc, the topic settled with the dust and Panettiere’s name stopped appearing in headlines.
Since 2018, Panettiere has experienced her fair share of personal challenges, from postpartum depression to breaking off her engagement to Klitschko in 2018, but her interview with People magazine now gives more context to her absence over the last four years.
Panettiere said she and Klitschko made the decision to move their daughter, Kaya to Ukraine to live with Klitschko. “I knew that the best thing I could do for my daughter was to make sure that she was okay and take care of myself,” she said. “And make sure that I could be a good mom.” For her, that meant working on an alcohol and opioid addiction that had been festering under the surface for years.
Being a child actor, Panettiere says, is horrible. At the age of 15 a person who represented her introduced her to the “happy pill” to be more “peppy” and energetic while walking the red carpet. That opened the door to addiction, Panettiere says. By the time the addiction had taken control of her life she would, “have the shakes when I woke up and could only function with sipping alcohol.”
The birth of her daughter and the postpartum depression that followed made it difficult for Panettiere to ascertain where the postpartum ended and the alcoholism and opioid addiction began. Her decision to seek treatment was an ongoing journey that didn’t end at any one facility. That is, until she found one facility that “literally ripped me open and then put me back together again.”
Now, that door to addiction is finally beginning to close.
“I feel content for the first time. I have the ability to choose to laugh today. To choose to smile today. To choose to have fun today… I realize that that was worth fighting for. Not just for myself, but for my daughter, for other people to be able to tell them ‘I promise you that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”
Will we see Panettiere in another show or movie down the line?
Panettiere has understandably had her hands full with various life situations for quite a while, but one of the most exciting things she is doing is finally getting back to work. “It’s good for the soul,” she told Good Morning America.
For her, that looks like returning to her fan-favorite character, Kirby in Scream 6. “I called them up myself and was like ‘so you guys don’t, like, happen to want to bring Kirby back do you?’ I wanted to be in it that badly.”
The last we saw Kirby she was stabbed and left to die by Ghostface. How she made it out alive might find its way into the Scream 6 storyline, but we have a feeling it won’t be the last time she and Ghostface, well, face off.
Filming for Scream 6 is currently underway. It is expected to premiere in March 2023.