Michelle Rodriguez paused on the red carpet at Sunday’s 25th anniversary screening of “The Fast and the Furious” to reflect on the death of Hayden Panettiere, who died a day earlier at age 36. Asked about the actress, Rodriguez recalled her “curious spirit and how happy and joyous she” was, then voiced a broader unease about the pace of loss among younger performers. “I can’t stand how many young people are leaving us lately,” she said. “It’s disheartening, and it’s making me think, what’s going on?” She added that she did not want to speculate on the circumstances, calling the pattern simply “weird.”
Rodriguez and Panettiere co-hosted the World Music Awards together in Monte Carlo in 2010, a partnership that put the two actresses on stage together at the height of Panettiere’s television fame on “Heroes.”
Panettiere was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on Saturday, according to the county coroner’s office. Emergency responders attempted resuscitation without success, and she was pronounced dead early Sunday afternoon. An autopsy completed the following day found no signs of trauma, and officials say the cause and manner of death remain under investigation. She had been staying at the property temporarily.
The actress built a career that spanned three decades, from early roles in “Remember the Titans” and “Ice Princess” to her breakout as Claire Bennet on “Heroes” and later as Juliette Barnes on “Nashville,” a part that brought her two Golden Globe nominations. She returned to the “Scream” franchise in recent years and published a memoir this past May detailing struggles with addiction and postpartum depression.
Panettiere is survived by her daughter, Kaya, born in 2014 during her relationship with boxer Wladimir Klitschko. Her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died from a heart condition in 2023 at age 28, a loss she had spoken about publicly in the years since.
