{"id":571588,"date":"2026-08-17T10:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/571588\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T10:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:26:14","slug":"hayden-panettieres-career-highlights-from-heroes-to-nashville-and-scream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/571588\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayden Panettiere\u2019s career highlights: From Heroes to Nashville and Scream"},"content":{"rendered":"

She is survived by her daughter, Kaya, whom she had with former fiance, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.<\/p>\n

The Herald looks back at her most memorable on-screen roles.<\/p>\n

\"HaydenHayden Panettiere as Lizzie Spaulding in US Soap Opera Guiding Light. <\/p>\n

Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light (1996-2000)<\/p>\n

After making her mark in commercials, Panettiere became a regular as the daughter of turbulent couple Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines in the popular daytime soap Guiding Light. <\/p>\n

Her vibrant positivity and cheekiness quickly stole hearts \u2013 but it was Panettiere\u2019s character\u2019s realistic battle with cancer that gained the show a Special Recognition Award from the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society of America, and even more acclaim for the young actress.<\/p>\n

She left the role in 2000 but took on many other small roles in soaps and sitcoms.<\/p>\n

\"PrincessPrincess Dot in A Bugs Life. Photo \/ Disney<\/p>\n

Dot in A Bug\u2019s Life (1998)<\/p>\n

Panettiere made her feature film debut as the voice of Princess Dot at 9.<\/p>\n

The cult-classic Disney film paved the way for further animated movie, TV and video game voice-acting roles for Panettiere..<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid H. Lawrence as Eric Doyle and Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet in Heroes. Photo \/ Getty<\/p>\n

Claire Bennet in Heroes (2006\u20132010)<\/p>\n

\u201cX-Men\u2019s Wolverine, but less hairy and without claws\u201d, is how Panettiere described her nearly invincible, pain-harbouring superhero cheerleader Claire Bennet, a role that catapulted her to major stardom.<\/p>\n

The actor brought the mix of teenage angst and heartbreak and, combined with traditional superhero tropes, created a complex character worth viewers\u2019 time and emotional effort.<\/p>\n

Panettiere was apparently destined for the role, with one NBC Universal executive stating: \u201cWhen they were trying to decide who the cheerleader should be, I literally picked up the phone and said to the producers, \u2018You\u2019ve got to meet Hayden Panettiere\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HaydenHayden Panettiere and Connie Britton in Nashville.<\/p>\n

Juliette Barnes in Nashville (2012\u20132018)<\/p>\n

Panettiere\u2019s best-known role, and one that captured the hearts of country music fans everywhere, in this fading star versus up-and-comer tale which also taught us that Panettiere had an incredible singing voice.<\/p>\n

Cutthroat, yet charming, and kind, yet ready to do anything to get to the top, Juliette is the ultimate power player, leading to some great scenes with ageing music legend Rayna James (Connie Britton).<\/p>\n

Her most critically acclaimed role, Nashville also snagged Panettiere multiple Golden Globe nominations and proved to the industry she could play more than the girl next door stereotype.<\/p>\n

\"HaydenHayden Panettiere as the street-smart Kirby Reed in the Scream series. <\/p>\n

Kirby Reed in Scream 4 (2011) and Scream VI (2023)<\/p>\n

Range is an actor\u2019s strength, and with Ghostface killer target Kirby Reed, Panettiere proved she could be a country star and scream queen.<\/p>\n

Sassy, strong, quick-witted, and with a knack for horror pop culture knowledge, Reed quickly became a fan favourite and brought new edge to a dwindling franchise.<\/p>\n

Even horror king Wes Craven commended Panettiere\u2019s acting range and said she was also \u201cjust so full of life and laughter and fun\u201d.<\/p>\n

Samantha \u2018Sam\u2019 Giddings in Until Dawn (2024)<\/p>\n

One of Panettiere\u2019s final major roles wasn\u2019t in film or TV, but in this award-winning video game.<\/p>\n

Her motion capture performance draws on her work as Kirby Reed, as she plays Sam, an adventurous, headstrong leader who tries to keep everyone calm as evil spirits descend upon a remote getaway cabin.<\/p>\n

While most of the actors in this \u201cchoose your fate\u201d video game stick to bold expressions and over-the-top chaos, there\u2019s nuance to Panettiere\u2019s performance. <\/p>\n

Fear, delight, and genuine care are littered throughout, and it\u2019s clear she knows the burden players have to take on.<\/p>\n

Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald\u2019s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke\u2019s Bay Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She is survived by her daughter, Kaya, whom she had with former fiance, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3376,18919,95,2046,2511,6179,156,2740,71,63787,7561,8788,2845,6176,23739,9062,435,12568,111,139,69,224853,281766,31699,4625,2737,61],"class_list":["post-571588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-actor","tag-aged","tag-and","tag-career","tag-child","tag-died","tag-entertainment","tag-former","tag-from","tag-hayden","tag-heroes","tag-highlights","tag-leaving","tag-legacy","tag-memorable","tag-moments","tag-movie","tag-nashville","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-panettiere","tag-panettieres","tag-scream","tag-singer","tag-star","tag-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}