10 Hayden Panettiere Film and TV Roles That Defined Her Career

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Hayden Panettiere, the actor who rose to fame as a child before becoming known for Heroes, Nashville and the Scream franchise, died Sunday at the age of 36.

Panettiere began acting before she was even a year old, appearing in a commercial before landing her first major television role as a child. Over more than three decades, she built a career spanning daytime soaps, animated films, teen comedies, television dramas and horror movies.

Her performances ranged from the football-loving tomboy Sheryl Yoast in Remember the Titans to cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes and troubled country singer Juliette Barnes in Nashville. 

10 Hayden Panettiere Roles That Defined Her Career

Here are 10 performances that showcase Panettiere's career and range, compiled from Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter:

1. One Life to Live (1994-1997) and Guiding Light (1996-2000)

Panettiere began her acting career on daytime television while still a young child. She played Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live from 1994 to 1997 before joining Guiding Light, where she played Lizzie Spaulding from 1996 to 2000.

The roles established Panettiere as a working child actor and gave her an early start in television long before she became a household name.

2. A Bug's Life (1998)

Panettiere made an early mark in animation with Pixar's A Bug's Life, voicing Dot, a young ant who befriends the film's protagonist, Flik.

She joined an ensemble voice cast that included Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Hyde Pierce. Her work on the film later earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for the A Bug's Life Read-Along.

3. Remember the Titans (2000)

At just 10 years old, Panettiere played Sheryl Yoast in Disney's Remember the Titans, the football-obsessed daughter of assistant coach Bill Yoast, played by Will Patton.

The film, based on the true story of an integrated high school football team in 1971 Virginia, starred Denzel Washington and Patton as coaches navigating racial tensions in the American South.

Panettiere brought humor and energy to Sheryl, whose passion for football makes her stand out in a male-dominated world. She later said the film was her favorite acting experience and received a Young Artist Award for the role.

4. Ally McBeal (2002)

Panettiere appeared in 12 episodes of the fifth and final season of Ally McBeal, playing Madison “Maddie” Harrington, the long-lost daughter of Calista Flockhart's title character.

The role showed Panettiere moving beyond child roles into more substantial television parts. It also placed her alongside an established ensemble in one of television's most prominent legal dramedies of the era.

5. Ice Princess (2005)

In Ice Princess, Panettiere played Gennifer “Gen” Harwood, a talented figure skater and rival to Michelle Trachtenberg's Casey Carlyle.

The Disney film also starred Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall. Although it initially underperformed at the box office, it later developed a cult following.

The role marked another step in Panettiere's transition from child actor to teen star. Despite having limited skating experience, she trained for the film and performed much of the skating herself.

6. Heroes (2006-2010)

Panettiere's breakthrough adult role came with NBC's Heroes, in which she played Claire Bennet, a high school cheerleader who discovers she has the ability to regenerate from injuries.

The series became a cultural phenomenon, following ordinary people around the world as they discovered superhuman abilities. Panettiere remained one of its central characters throughout all four seasons.

The show's famous tagline, “Save the cheerleader, save the world,” became inseparable from Claire and Panettiere. Her performance earned her Teen Choice, Saturn and Young Artist awards.

7. I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)

Panettiere returned to the high school comedy genre in I Love You, Beth Cooper, playing the popular cheerleader Beth Cooper.

Directed by Chris Columbus and based on Larry Doyle's novel, the film follows valedictorian Denis Cooverman, played by Paul Rust, after he publicly confesses his love for Beth during his graduation speech.

The role allowed Panettiere to lean into the confident cheerleader persona that had become familiar to audiences while giving her a central role in a teen romantic comedy.

8. Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy (2011)

In the Lifetime television movie Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy, Panettiere took on one of the most challenging roles of her career, portraying American student Amanda Knox in a dramatization of the murder case involving Knox's roommate, Meredith Kercher.

The film focused on the events surrounding Kercher's death and Knox's initial conviction in Italy. Knox and her family attempted unsuccessfully to prevent the film from airing.

The role represented a significant departure from Panettiere's earlier teen-oriented work, requiring her to portray a real person at the center of an internationally scrutinized criminal case.

9. Scream 4 (2011) and Scream VI (2023)

Panettiere joined the Scream franchise as Kirby Reed in Scream 4, playing a horror-film fan whose encyclopedic knowledge of the genre becomes crucial when Ghostface returns.

Kirby became one of the film's most memorable characters, and fans continued to call for her return after the film's release.

More than a decade later, Panettiere reprised the role in Scream VI. The film revealed that Kirby had become an FBI agent before returning to help investigate a new series of Ghostface killings in New York.

Her return marked one of Panettiere's most notable career comebacks.

10. Nashville (2012-2018)

Panettiere's most acclaimed dramatic performance came in ABC's Nashville, where she played ambitious country singer Juliette Barnes over six seasons.

Juliette begins the series as a rising star determined to take the place of established country music icon Rayna Jaymes, played by Connie Britton. Behind her ambition and confidence, however, Juliette struggles with deeply personal problems.

Panettiere's performance earned her two Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress and a Critics Choice Television Award nomination.

The role also carried uncomfortable parallels with aspects of Panettiere's own life. In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, she described the experience of seeing elements of her personal struggles reflected in the show's storylines as “traumatizing.”

Despite those difficulties, Nashville became one of the clearest demonstrations of Panettiere's dramatic range, allowing her to move far beyond the child and teen roles that had first made her famous.