Actress Hayden Panettiere died late Sunday night, according to a statement released by her family. She was 36. The cause of death has not yet been made public.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” the family’s statement, published by People magazine, reads. “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.”
Hayden Panettiere began her career in the entertainment industry at an early age, appearing in television commercials before landing a voice-acting role in the 1998 animated film A Bug’s Life. She went on to work steadily in film and television before booking her breakthrough role in the NBC series Heroes, which ran from 2006 to 2010. She later starred in Nashville, playing Juliette Barnes for six seasons—a performance that earned her two Golden Globe nominations.
Panettiere also appeared in the fourth and sixth installments of the Scream franchise, starred in 2006’s Bring It On: All or Nothing, and pursued a career in music alongside her acting work.
Just months ago, she published her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she opened up about motherhood—she welcomed her only child in 2014—and postpartum depression. She also wrote about coping with the death of her brother, Jansen, in 2023; her struggles with alcohol during her youth; and the challenges of dealing with the enormous level of fame that followed her during the early years of the last decade.
