Hayden Panettiere said that she had been ‘groomed’ into being a child star as she entered the entertainment industry at an early age.
The 36-year-old actress, who recently came out as bisexual, got candid about the topic during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
It comes as the star is preparing for the release of her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning which is set to be released on May 19.
Panettiere reflected on her acting career which started at 11-months-old when she starred in a commercial in 1990 and the pressure that she still feels.
‘I think it’s the way I was raised. I was groomed,’ she expressed. ‘I was like a little soldier and I always have been. No was never an option.
‘It was just, here are your scenes, here’s your dialogue, memorize it, hit the marks, do what your director tells you to do. I took my marching orders.’
Hayden Panettiere, 36, said that she had been ‘groomed’ into being a child star as she entered the entertainment industry at an early age; seen in 2022 in West Hollywood
‘I think it’s the way I was raised. I was groomed,’ she expressed. ‘I was like a little soldier and I always have been. No was never an option’; seen in 2005 in Hollywood
After appearing in commercials when she was baby, Panettiere was cast as Sarah Roberts in the soap opera One Life To Live.
She portrayed the character from 1994 through 1997.
And beginning in 1996, she started to play the role of Lizzie Spaulding in another soap opera titled Guiding Light.
The actress gained more recognition when she became a main cast member in the series Heroes from 2006-2010.
Two years later, Panettiere portrayed the character of Juliette Barnes on the show Nashville.
However, the star also made appearances on the big screen in films such as Bring It On: All Or Nothing (2006), I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009) and Scream VI (2023).
Panettiere opened up about when she came to the realization that her being groomed to be a child star was ‘abnormal.’
‘When I started self-harming in the form of substance abuse. My people pleasing had built up and up, it was anger and anxiety and frustration.’
‘It was just, here are your scenes, here’s your dialogue, memorize it, hit the marks, do what your director tells you to do. I took my marching orders,’ she added; seen in 1998
The actress gained more recognition when she became a main cast member in the series Heroes from 2006-2010 (seen above)
Panettiere opened up about when she came to the realization that her being groomed to be a child star was ‘abnormal’; seen in 2023
She added, ‘My life revolved around other people, and I lived to make other people happy and I was the last one on the list.’
The star then said that the pressure continued to build up until it ‘exploded’ and she ‘started figuring out any way I could get through it.’
‘Sometimes they’ll say in treatment that, believe it or not, our addictions probably saved us at a certain point.’
Panettiere admitted that she was curious if acting was something that she ‘would have naturally gravitated towards.’
The actress revealed that her daughter Kaya, 11, has expressed ‘an interest’ in acting as well.
‘I will say, please go to college, please try things out. And if you really love it, then I will support you wholeheartedly. And if she doesn’t like it, she can get out. Her world doesn’t have to revolve around that.’
Panettiere shares her daughter with ex-fiance Wladimir Klitschko and previously relinquished custody of Kaya to her ex amid her struggles with addiction and postpartum depression.
Earlier this month, the actress came out as bisexual.
Earlier this month, the actress came out as bisexual; seen in 2023 in NYC
She explained that it had taken her years to come out after feeling ‘forced to be perfect’ in order to avoid public scrutiny.
The star told Us Weekly, ‘It’s sad that I had to wait till I was 36 years old to share that part of me, but better late than never, right?
‘I’ve chosen to share it with the world, I’m comfortable saying I’m bisexual. I’m comfortable to confidently say that, yes, I am bisexual. I said it!’
Panettiere said that she dated women in the past despite the minimal privacy she had due to ‘paparazzi always outside waiting for me.’
‘[I was] much more into women. But, yeah, I have explored it, but I don’t think I ever had the courage, because I hadn’t shared this with anybody.’
The actress admitted that she ‘didn’t really have the courage to throw myself fully, emotionally into it, because then if I did fall in love, that wasn’t something that I wanted to ever have to hide.
‘[I was] much more into women. But, yeah, I have explored it, but I don’t think I ever had the courage, because I hadn’t shared this with anybody,’ the star said; seen in 2024 in NYC
It comes as the star is preparing for the release of her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning which is set to be released on May 19
‘I didn’t feel confident enough, and I was too afraid to really let that part of me explore that part of me.’
Panettiere also shared that she was worried it would look like she was ‘jumping on the bandwagon.’
She added that it was hard to find the ‘right time’ to come out and added it is a ‘difficult topic to articulate properly.’
‘I wanted to make sure that I really sat down and chose my words carefully and was able to tell my story in an honest way, that people understood.’
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