Hayden Panettiere facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hayden Panettiere
Panettiere at Fan Expo Canada in 2011
Born	Hayden Lesley Panettiere (1989-08-21) August 21, 1989 (age 35) Palisades, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress model singer
Years active	1990–present
Partner(s)	Wladimir Klitschko (2009–2011, 2013–2018)
Children	1
Relatives	Jansen Panettiere (brother)

Hayden Lesley Panettiere (born August 21, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She is famous for playing characters with amazing abilities and big dreams.

Many people know her as Claire Bennet, the cheerleader who could heal from any injury, on the NBC superhero show Heroes (2006–2010). She also starred as Kirby Reed in the popular Scream horror movie series. From 2012 to 2018, she played the country music star Juliette Barnes in the drama series Nashville. Her role in Nashville earned her two nominations for the Golden Globe Award.

Panettiere started her acting career when she was just a baby, appearing in a commercial at 11 months old. As a child, she acted in soap operas like One Life to Live and Guiding Light. She was also the voice of Dot in the Pixar movie A Bug's Life (1998), which led to a Grammy Award nomination.

She has appeared in many other movies, including the football drama Remember the Titans (2000), the Disney movies Tiger Cruise (2004) and Ice Princess (2005), and the cheerleading comedy Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006). She has also voiced characters in video games like the Kingdom Hearts series and Until Dawn.

Early life

Hayden Panettiere was born in Palisades, New York. Her mother, Lesley R. Vogel, was a soap opera actress, and her father, Alan Lee "Skip" Panettiere, was a fire captain in the New York City Fire Department. She has English, German, and Italian roots.

She had a younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, who was also an actor. He sadly passed away in 2023.

To keep up with her acting jobs, Panettiere was homeschooled from ninth grade until she finished high school. This allowed her to have a flexible schedule for filming.

Career

Acting

Television Roles

Panettiere's career began with commercials when she was a baby. Her first major roles were on soap operas. She played Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live and later Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light. On Guiding Light, her character battled leukemia, a type of cancer. Her performance helped raise awareness about the disease, and she received a special award from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Connie Britton (left) and Panettiere (right) at PaleyFest for the TV series Nashville in 2013

Her big break came when she was cast as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes. Her character was a high school cheerleader who discovered she had the power to heal instantly from any injury. The show was a huge hit and made her famous around the world.

In 2012, Panettiere began starring in the musical drama series Nashville. She played Juliette Barnes, a young and ambitious country music singer. Panettiere did her own singing on the show, which ran for six seasons until 2018.

Movie Roles

Panettiere's first movie role was providing the voice for Princess Dot in the animated Disney/Pixar film A Bug's Life (1998). She also appeared in Remember the Titans (2000), playing the coach's daughter.

She starred in several movies aimed at teens. In Tiger Cruise (2004), she played a girl living on a military ship. In Ice Princess (2005), she was a competitive figure skater. She also played a cheerleader in Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006) and the title character in the comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009).

Panettiere in 2009

In 2011, she joined the horror movie series Scream in the fourth film, Scream 4. She played Kirby Reed, a movie-loving high school student. Fans loved her character, and she returned to the role in Scream VI (2023).

Video Games

Panettiere has also worked in video games. She voiced the character Kairi in the popular game series Kingdom Hearts. She also voiced Xion in one of the games.

In 2015, she voiced and did the motion capture for the character Samantha "Sam" Giddings in the PlayStation 4 horror game Until Dawn.

Singing

Panettiere is a talented singer as well as an actress. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999 for the read-along album of A Bug's Life.

She has recorded many songs for the movies and TV shows she has been in. She sang "I Fly" for the movie Ice Princess and recorded several songs for Disney albums.

Most of her famous songs come from the TV show Nashville. She performed many songs as her character, Juliette Barnes, which were released on the show's official soundtracks. She even went on tour to perform the songs live for fans.

Other Work

Modeling

Panettiere has been the face of several major brands. In 2006, she was the cover girl for a worldwide Neutrogena advertising campaign. She also modeled for Candie's clothing and designed handbags for the company Dooney & Bourke.

Activism

Panettiere uses her fame to support causes she cares about. She is a strong supporter of animal rights, especially the protection of whales and dolphins.

In 2007, she traveled to Taiji, Japan, to protest the annual dolphin hunt. Her efforts were shown in the award-winning documentary film The Cove. She has also worked with the group Greenpeace to protest whale hunting.

She has also supported voting rights for the people living in Washington, D.C., arguing that they should have representatives in the U.S. government.

Personal life

Milo Ventimiglia and Panettiere at San Diego Comic-Con in 2007

From 2007 to 2009, Panettiere dated her Heroes co-star, Milo Ventimiglia.

In 2009, she began a relationship with the world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. They were engaged in 2013 and have a daughter together, who was born in December 2014. The couple separated in 2018 but remain friends.

After her daughter was born, Panettiere experienced postpartum depression. She spoke openly about her struggles to help other women who might be going through the same thing. She said it is an important issue that needs to be talked about more.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	The Object of My Affection	Mermaid
	A Bug's Life	Princess Dot	Voice role
1999	Message in a Bottle	Girl on sinking boat
2000	Dinosaur	Suri	Voice role
	Remember the Titans	Sheryl Yoast
2001	Joe Somebody	Natalie Scheffer
	The Affair of the Necklace	Young Jeanne
2004	The Dust Factory	Melanie Lewis
	Raising Helen	Audrey Davis
2005	Racing Stripes	Channing "Chan" Walsh
	Ice Princess	Gennifer "Gen" Harwood
2006	Bring It On: All or Nothing	Britney Allen
	The Architect	Christina Waters
	Mr. Gibb	Allyson "Ally" Palmer	Released on DVD as The Good Student
2007	Shanghai Kiss	Adelaide Bourbon
	Diary of a New Girl	Hannah Rochelle	Voice role
2008	Fireflies in the Garden	Young Jane Lawrence
	Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King	Fairy Princess Willow	Voice role
2009	I Love You, Beth Cooper	Beth Cooper
	The Cove	Herself	Documentary
2010	Alpha and Omega	Kate	Voice role
2011	Scream 4	Kirby Reed
	Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil	Red Puckett	Voice role
	The Forger	Amber Felter
2016	Custody	Ally Fisher
2022	Scream	Kirby Reed	Voice cameo; credited as "special thanks"
2023	Scream VI
2024	Amber Alert	Jacqueline "Jaq" Dana
2025	A Breed Apart	Hayden Hearst
2026	Scream 7	Kirby Reed
TBA	Sleepwalker	Sarah

Television

Video games

Music videos

Discography

Singles

Other charted songs

• ^ADid not enter the Hot 100 but charted on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles

Music videos

Soundtrack appearances

Compilation albums

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Hayden Panettiere para niños