Hollywood is reeling with the news the news of the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, who has died at the age of just 36.

The news was confirmed to People by the actress’s representative, relaying a statement from her father, Skip Panettiere: “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” he said.

“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,” her father added.

Panettiere died on Sunday 16 August. No further details about the circumstances or cause of her death have been made public so far.

From soap operas to “Heroes”

Hayden Panettiere began her acting career at a very young age. In 1994, she joined the cast of ABC’s soap opera “One Life to Live”. In 1996, she moved to CBS’s “Guiding Light”, to which she returned in 1997 and remained until 2000.

At the age of nine, she made her film debut, narrating and voicing Princess Dot in the Pixar animated film “A Bug’s Life”.

One of her first notable film appearances followed in 2000, in “Remember the Titans”, where she played the young, football-obsessed daughter of assistant coach Bill Yoast, portrayed by Will Patton.

In the years that followed, she appeared in several television series, including “Ally McBeal” and “Malcolm in the Middle”, as well as films such as “Tiger Cruise” in 2004 and “Ice Princess” in 2005.

Her career took off, however, in 2006, when she landed one of the lead roles in NBC’s “Heroes”. Panettiere played Claire Bennet, a high school student and cheerleader with the supernatural ability to heal her own wounds. The role made her known around the world and established her as one of the most recognisable faces on American television at the time.

After “Heroes” ended in 2010, she appeared in the horror film “Scream 4” in 2011, playing Kirby Reed. The character became especially popular with fans of the franchise, and Panettiere reprised the role more than a decade later, in 2023’s “Scream 6”.

Six seasons on “Nashville”

Another major milestone in her career was “Nashville”. From 2012 to 2018, she starred alongside Connie Britton across all six seasons of the musical drama, playing country singer Juliette Barnes.

Panettiere had stepped away from acting for a period before making her comeback with “Scream 6”. She went on to appear in “Amber Alert” in 2024 and “A Breed Apart” in 2025, while her final film appearance was in “Sleepwalker”, released in cinemas this past January.

Alongside acting, Hayden Panettiere was also involved in music, releasing songs over the course of her many years in the entertainment industry.