Hayden Panettiere, the actress known to audiences for her work in the Scream franchise and a long list of television and film roles, died over the weekend at age 36.
A representative for Panettiere confirmed the news of her sudden death on Sunday.
“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,” the statement said.
As of this writing, no additional details about the circumstances surrounding Panettiere’s death have been made public, according to ABC News:
Panettiere began acting as a child and went on to build a wide-ranging career across television and film. She became best known for playing Claire Bennet on the hit NBC series “Heroes” and later starred as Juliette Barnes on the country music drama “Nashville.”
Her film credits also included “Remember the Titans,” “Raising Helen,” “Ice Princess” and “Scream 4.”
The news comes just months after Panettiere published her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, a deeply personal account in which she opened up about struggles that, she wrote, had followed her since childhood. As Variety reported at the time:
Among the most startling accounts in the book was Panettiere’s recollection of an incident when she was 18, in which she said a friend led her into a room and instructed her to get into bed with a famous male actor who was naked. She also discussed the episode during an appearance on the “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” podcast.
“Even though I felt I could make healthy decisions, safe decisions [at that age], I wasn’t capable of being fully aware of what was going on around me,” Panettiere said. “It wasn’t until I found myself in predicaments that I realized my perspective completely shifted and I realized I was in danger. By the time I realized I was in danger, I was quite literally out to sea.”
In the book, Panettiere also opens up about the “heartbreaking” decision to give up custody over her daughter, her experience with postpartum depression and her struggle with alcoholism — all issues that she says began to mirror the storyline of Juliette Barnes, the troubled singer she was playing on “Nashville” at the time.
Fans mourned her passing on social media.
