Beth Chamberlin, who played her on-screen mother in the US soap opera Guiding Light for three years, described her as “the most brilliant child actor I’ve ever seen”.

“The things she could do, the way she could remember 20+ pages of dialogue, day after day,” she posted online, external.

“Even on days where the director would come out between dress [rehearsal] and tape and make huge cuts to the scenes, Hayden, never once forgot a line or missed her blocking. The adults would, but not Hayden.

“I felt blessed to work with her. And always perfect in her playing of the scene.”

Panettiere’s final big-screen appearance came earlier this year in the movie Sleepwalker.

Her co-star Justin Chatwin has shared how the actress was “struggling” on the set of the thriller in early 2025.

“Hayden seemed different when I met her this time than when I met her in the early years,” Chatwin told People, external.

“I’ve been sober for 15 years, so I know this world of addiction, and Hollywood – it takes, and it takes from youth.”

He added: “I could tell she was struggling, and I was like, ‘I don’t think it’s this movie’.”

“There’s a handful of women that I’ve worked with that I really liked, and I really loved working with her, but I also know that she was really lonely.”