“She Was Struggling”: Hayden Panettiere’s Former Costar Claimed She Was “Really Lonely” While Making Her Final Movie

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On Sunday, Aug. 16, we learned of the sudden death of Hayden Panettiere. Hayden was just 36, and her dad, Alan "Skip" Panettiere, was the first to share the tragic news in a statement saying: "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."

Around 1:50 p.m. local time on Aug. 16, police in Greenville, South Carolina, and EMS personnel responded to a report of an "unresponsive female." Though the details surrounding Hayden's passing were initially kept private, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office said in a statement on Aug. 17 that "first responders and Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and located a female in cardiac arrest." "EMS personnel initiated advanced cardiac life support measures; however, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the individual was pronounced deceased at 2:32 PM," the statement continued.

A preliminary report did not indicate "any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances," and an autopsy completed on Aug. 17 also showed there were "no signs of trauma" that "would have contributed to the death." The exact cause and manner of death remain pending further investigation; however, the latest update from People alleges that officials were heard discussing an "overdose" on dispatch radio around the time of Hayden's death.

Hayden talked very openly about her struggles with addiction and depression. However, while promoting her memoir this year, it seemed that she was living a happy and healthy life. "I'm a warrior. I'm a woman who has been through more trauma than I ever thought I'd face, but I'm resilient," she recently told Momé, in what would tragically turn out to be one of her final interviews. "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."

Hayden returned to acting in 2023's Scream VI, and in early 2025, she filmed the psychological thriller Sleepwalker, which was released in January. In that movie, Hayden played a woman struggling with the loss of her daughter following a tragic car crash — and it sounds like the subject matter may have brought up some heavy feelings for her.

For context, Hayden was mom to an 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, with her ex, Wladimir Klitschko. Hayden experienced severe postpartum depression after Kaya's birth in 2014, which spiraled into other addiction and mental health struggles. In 2018, when Kaya was 3, Hayden made the "heartbreaking" decision to relinquish custody of her daughter, and Kaya moved to Ukraine to live with Wladimir. Despite the distance between them, Hayden said in May this year that she and Kaya maintained an "incredible relationship."

Now, speaking to People following the news of Hayden's death, her Sleepwalker costar, Justin Chatwin, recalled the film's subject matter hitting "close to home" for the actor. "She did mention it," he told the outlet. "She opened up to me about a lot of things."

Justin and Hayden first crossed paths in the 2000s while she starred on Heroes, but he said that, when they reconnected on Sleepwalker decades later, Hayden "seemed different." "I’ve been sober for 15 years, so I know this world of addiction, and Hollywood — it takes, and it takes from youth," he said. "I could tell she was struggling, and I was like, 'I don’t think it’s this movie.' There’s a handful of women that I’ve worked with that I really liked, and I really loved working with her, but I also know that she was really lonely."

Early in the process of making Sleepwalker together, Justin specifically claimed that Hayden opened up to him about her experience with going to rehab and the "struggles that she’s had with trauma." "I’m sure that everyone else is going to say, ‘Oh, she’s amazing. She’s such a sweet person on set,’ because she was," he said. "But we’re trained to be actors, so we’re acting on set, you know? And she is sweet. She had a beautiful heart. But we’re trained to be on, and I really liked spending time with her because she took that off, and she was authentic with me about her life, and she opened up about her struggles with addiction. And who knows where it comes from? Does it come from Hollywood? Does it come from home? And a lot of times, it’s both."

Following the news of her death, many people have shared tributes to Hayden, including Brandon Auman, the writer and director of Sleepwalker. In a statement, Brandon recalled that Hayden was "delightful and super open" when they worked together. "I keep thinking back to our time on set and how much she taught me," he wrote. "She was open and honest about the last few years of her life and how it related to her character. I’m keeping those conversations private, but I was struck by how complex and deeply introspective she was. She lived a dozen lives in one short beautiful life. I’ll miss her forever."

Our thoughts are with all of Hayden's loved ones. We'll be sure to keep you posted with any updates.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-800-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.

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