JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Actress Hayden Panettiere, star of TV shows "Heroes" and "Nashville," has died at the age of 36. In a statement, her father 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 on screen. Her cause of death has not been shared publicly.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Panettiere began acting from a very young age, appearing in her first commercial at just 11 months old.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: At Playskool, we know at home or away, babies like having their favorite toys with them.
UNIDENTIFIED VOICE ACTOR: (As character) I've been here before.
SUMMERS: At just 4 years old, she landed a role on the soap opera, "One Life To Live."
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JOHN LOPRIENO: (As Cord Roberts) Where's Daddy's big girl Where's Daddy's big girl?
HAYDEN PANETTIERE: (As Sarah Roberts, crying).
LOPRIENO: (As Cord Roberts) Mommy's going to be just fine, sweetheart.
PANETTIERE: (As Sarah Roberts, crying) How do you know?
LOPRIENO: (As Cord Roberts) Because I know. Your mommy is a very strong, determined woman.
PANETTIERE: (As Sarah Roberts, crying) What does that mean?
KELLY: She was 9 when she broke onto the big screen as the voice of Dot in "A Bug's Life."
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DAVE FOLEY: (As Flik) I'm never going to make a difference.
PANETTIERE: (As Dot) Me, neither. I'm a royal ant, and I can't even fly yet. I'm too little.
SUMMERS: And Hayden Panettiere's true ascent to stardom came at age 11 when she starred opposite Denzel Washington in "Remember The Titans."
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PANETTIERE: (As Sheryl Yoast) That veer's getting better. I'll admit that. But you're still weak on the left side.
DENZEL WASHINGTON: (As Coach Herman Boone) We're not weak on the left side. We just got to work harder on the left side. That's all.
PANETTIERE: (As Sheryl Yoast) That's not the problem.
WASHINGTON: (As Coach Herman Boone) What is the problem?
PANETTIERE: (As Sheryl Yoast) You think it is, but it ain't. It's your pass rate (ph).
WASHINGTON: (As Coach Herman Boone) Well, tell me what the - it's not - it's a run anyway. It's not a pass.
KELLY: But as with many child stars, the high highs came with low lows. She shared stories of both in her memoir "This Is Me: A Reckoning" published earlier this year.
SUMMERS: In an interview about her book, Panettiere told NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer that she felt she lost the chance to have a normal childhood.
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PANETTIERE: I was trying to fit into two different worlds. One was a very adult world, which was the industry, and one was the world of being a normal kid. And struggled with both in different ways, but I desperately wanted to fit in. That's what I wanted more than anything.
KELLY: Her struggles morphed and grew along with her career. Hollywood placed a lot of value on her ability to cry on camera, but it came at a cost.
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PANETTIERE: When I was a child, it was easy for me to jump in and out of the characters. But as I got older, it was harder and harder, and I had to take more of a running start. And it was harder for me to pull myself out of those dark moments.
SUMMERS: Marlow Stern is a chief correspondent for Variety and wrote an article titled "Hollywood Failed Hayden Panettiere," and our conversation does mention sexual assault. He joins me now. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
MARLOW STERN: Hello.
SUMMERS: I just want to start by talking about Hayden Panettiere's career. What are some of the moments and roles that stand out for you?
STERN: Oh, wow. It's such a long career she's had, even though she passed away so young, unfortunately. But I think it's by virtue of the fact that she started so young. The first time she was on my radar was in "Remember The Titans."
SUMMERS: Yeah.
STERN: She's such a spunky, fun performer in that film and has amazing chemistry with Denzel Washington. She wrote very glowingly about her time on that film, calling it one of her favorite filmmaking experiences. And especially the closeness she developed with Denzel on set, you know, throwing the football around - it seemed like they got along pretty famously. And of course, there was "Heroes," the NBC show that ran for a number of years, the superhero series, which was kind of ahead of its time, in a way, as a big superhero show.
SUMMERS: And as we mentioned, Panettiere had just released a memoir detailing her struggles in the spotlight. This is what she told NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer about that process.
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PANETTIERE: It's made me stronger. It's opened some wounds, but I'm healing. And I'm OK with my scars.
SUMMERS: In reading that book, what were some of the most revealing details? What stood out to you?
STERN: It's interesting. I mean, you know, there are some high moments, like the aforementioned time on "Remember The Titans," but I think it's sort of the harrowing moments and her experiences within Hollywood that really stuck with me. It seemed like she had a pretty rough go of it from a very young age, when we talk about the various predatory men that entered her orbit repeatedly. You get the sense from reading the book that Hayden didn't really have the best support system when it comes to protecting her from Hollywood's bad men, essentially.
I'm reminded of an incident that she wrote about where at a party in Los Feliz, a very renowned Oscar-winning actor/filmmaker exposed himself to her as she was trying to leave the party, which was very shocking for her. And also an incident aboard a yacht in the south of France where she was essentially almost forced, in a way, to sleep with a very famous British singer-songwriter, but thankfully, her senses kicked in, and she realized something was wrong and got out of there before anything happened. And I should add that those incidents occurred when she was 18 and 19 years old. So she's, I mean, very young when these things occurred.
SUMMERS: Reading those accounts, listening to you describe them, they are awful and heartbreaking and infuriating, but they are also so familiar. I can think of countless young women in Hollywood and in the entertainment business who have recounted similar treatment. What was the impact of Hayden Panettiere speaking so candidly about what it was like to come up and really grow up in a culture that, in many ways, was devastating and traumatic and painful for young women?
STERN: I think a lot of people felt seen by her memoir because the reality of the situation is that these things happen to a lot of young girls and women, not just famous people in Hollywood. I mean, I think a lot of - a surprising and shocking amount of young girls and women have had to deal with treatment like this over the years, whether it's sexual harassment from men or worse. And I think when people read memoirs like Hayden's, I think they feel a sense of recognition in a way - that, you know, it really can happen to anyone. It can happen to someone who's at the top of the Hollywood food chain, like Hayden was at the time of "Heroes," or it can happen to a normal girl.
SUMMERS: What lessons do you hope that Hollywood will take away from her experience, what she went through and what she shared so openly?
STERN: I hope Hollywood takes some strong lessons from Hayden's story and what happened to her. And I would encourage everyone to read her memoir. It's quite eye-opening but also refreshingly candid and well-written. And I hope people learn that, you know, young girls and women in Hollywood need protecting. They need to feel safe. They need to feel secure, and they need to feel heard because I think too many young girls and women in Hollywood aren't. And they're sort of fed to the wolves like Hayden was.
SUMMERS: You ended your article with the same words that Panettiere ended her memoir with, and I'm wondering if I could ask you to read just that closing excerpt.
STERN: Sure. (Reading) Radical acceptance has taught me to walk hand in hand with my triumphs and my tragedies because they've made me who I am. And today, I really love that person. If there's anything I can offer you with this book, it's my hope that you do the same.
SUMMERS: We have been speaking with Variety chief correspondent Marlow Stern, remembering Hayden Panettiere. Thank you so much.
STERN: Thank you.
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