Hayden Panettiere said she had ‘more life to live’ in interview months before tragic death
Hayden Panettiere has died age 36 (Image: Getty Images)
Hayden Panettiere’s final interviews are resurfacing online after the actor has died aged 36, with fans resharing her recent comments about recovery and looking ahead.
In a May podcast conversation with Jay Shetty, Panettiere spoke about feeling she had turned a corner after difficult years. “I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity,” she said. “I’ve closed one door and another door is opened … I can feel all the exciting possibilities. I feel like I have a lot more life to live.”
The comments came as she promoted her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which coincided with her coming out publicly as bisexual.
Panettiere’s death was confirmed in a statement from her father, Skip, on Sunday, 16 August. It said: “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 went on to ask for privacy for her family as they “take time to process this unimaginable loss”.
According to TMZ, police are investigating her death.
Motherhood and ‘work in progress’
In her July Momé cover interview, Panettiere said: “I’m a work in progress – we all are. I take each day as it comes. I’m doing the work, and I’m doing my best.”
She also spoke about motherhood and being separated for long periods from her daughter, Kaya. “I’ve been able to put her first no matter how I’ve felt or what I’ve experienced,” she said, adding that she hoped “one day she’ll understand my story, and why I wasn’t able to be with her all the time.”
She ended with a message to other mothers: “You’re stronger than you know. And you’re going to be just fine.”
Final public appearances
Panettiere appeared at the Harmony Gold Theater in Los Angeles on 26 May for a book signing and panel, where she spoke about the impact of discussing her mental health publicly.
“So many people have have come up to me within the industry and outside of the industry and shared their stories with me and said, ‘Because you’ve talked about your mental health, it gave me the courage to be honest about mine and get myself help and you saved my life,’” she recalled.
She added: “I was like, This is worth it. I can hopefully leave the world a better place than I found it.”
Panettiere rose to fame as a child actor, including a long run on the US soap One Life to Live, before becoming a global TV name as cheerleader Claire Bennet in NBC’s Heroes. She later starred as Juliette Barnes in Nashville, and has spoken publicly about postpartum depression, addiction recovery and experiences of domestic violence.
She was engaged to Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, and they share a daughter, Kaya, 11, born in 2014.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
