Actress Hayden Panettiere died over the weekend at age 36, with emergency services responding to a 911 call at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina. The Greenville County Coroner's Office stated that responders found Panettiere in cardiac arrest and initiated advanced life support measures, but resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Her official cause and manner of death remain pending further investigation.

Panettiere, widely recognized for her roles as Claire Bennet in the NBC series "Heroes" and Juliette Barnes in "Nashville," as well as her role as Kirby Reed in the "Scream" film franchise, had candidly shared her personal challenges in recent years. These included experiences with postpartum depression, addiction, grief, and the pressures of fame.

Her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," released in May, detailed some of these struggles. In an interview with ABC News at the time of the book's release, Panettiere discussed the profound grief and trauma following the sudden death of her brother, Jansen Panettiere, in February 2023. Jansen Panettiere, 28, died from cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart, coupled with aortic valve complications.

"No matter how many times I talk about it and how much time passes, that is just a grief and a trauma that just evolves but time does not heal it," Hayden Panettiere said in May, describing the evolving nature of her grief.

Panettiere also spoke about her difficult relationship with her mother, Lesley Vogel, who also served as her acting coach. Panettiere expressed a desire for a healthy mother-daughter relationship, but acknowledged that it had not materialized. Her mother, in a statement to Page Six in May, indicated a decision for no contact after 20 years of trauma, stating that parents of entertainment children often observe self-destructive paths their children choose.

Panettiere's career began in childhood with roles in soap operas such as "One Life to Live" and "Guiding Light." She later gained significant recognition as a teenager for her role in "Heroes."

During an interview on "The Tamron Hall Show" in May, Panettiere detailed her struggles with substance abuse, which she said occurred concurrently with her acting career. She recounted receiving what she described as "happy pills" at a red carpet event at age 16, an experience that marked an early encounter with drugs. Panettiere entered a rehabilitation center for eight months in 2020, seeking treatment after realizing the severe impact on her health.

"When I got to the point of looking in the mirror and seeing my eyes had turned yellow, and that I didn't recognize my body anymore... I went into that doctor's office and got a blood test, and he told me 'If you don't stop, you're going to be looking at a liver transplant,'" she recalled.

Panettiere also commented on her experiences with the tabloid press, describing a cyclical and painful dynamic where public perception could shift rapidly. "One week you were the most beautiful woman in the world, and the next week, it was like the higher they lifted you, the farther you had to fall," she told Hall.

While starring as Juliette Barnes in "Nashville" from 2012 to 2018, Panettiere welcomed her daughter, Kaya, with then-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko. The period following "Nashville" and her daughter's birth was marked by struggles with alcoholism and postpartum depression, as she shared in a 2022 "Good Morning America" interview.

"I didn't know where the alcoholism was ending and the postpartum was beginning," Panettiere stated. "And I ran myself pretty ragged."

Postpartum depression, a mood disorder that can affect women within the first year after childbirth, can cause extreme sadness, anxiety, and fatigue, making daily tasks and self-care difficult. The National Institute of Mental Health notes that symptoms can last for weeks or months and are more severe than "baby blues." Approximately 1 in 8 women experience symptoms of depression after giving birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a May interview on the "Jay Shetty Podcast," Panettiere elaborated on her postpartum depression, explaining that she turned to alcohol as a self-medication. "Even though the alcohol helped my nervous system calm down, it is a depressant. So, over time it made things worse, not better," she said, noting that while she did not feel negativity toward her child, she struggled with connection due to stress and anxiety. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 for confidential support to those experiencing mental health crises. 988lifeline.org.