Among the performances for which Hayden Panettiere has been most fondly remembered in light of her death at age 36 are her memorable turns in the Scream franchise.
Panettiere, who died Sunday, got her start as a child actress in projects like Remember the Titans before starring on such series as Heroes and Nashville and in features like Ice Princess and I Love You, Beth Cooper. In 2011, she originated the role of Kirby Reed in Scream 4 before reprising the character for 2023’s Scream VI after fans campaigned for her return.
“The world is losing a very talented actress and beautiful soul who has shared and been revealing about her struggles along the way,” Nancy Naylor, who worked as a casting director for Scream 4, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “One hopes that there’s a happy ending, but it doesn’t always turn out that way in real life.”
Scream 4 marked not only Panettiere’s introduction to the beloved slasher series that filmmaker Wes Craven initiated with 1996’s original movie, but it also served as Naylor’s first and only project in the franchise. She worked with fellow casting directors Avy Kaufman and Rick Rosenthal on the sequel that saw the return of franchise mainstays Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, along with the additions of series newcomers Emma Roberts, Mary McDonnell, Anthony Anderson and Alison Brie.
“Hayden had been known from Heroes and had been working as a child actress, and the industry was aware of her,” Naylor recalls. “When her name came up, she seemed like a really terrific contender for the role of Kirby and a great contrast to Emma Roberts. They were just visually and energetically very different, and we thought they would be great together.”
In Scream 4, Kirby (Panettiere) is a horror-obsessed Woodsboro high school student and the best friend to Jill, who is played by Roberts and is the cousin of Campbell’s character, Sidney. Naylor recalls Panettiere’s positive energy when she landed the part: “I remember thinking she felt very happy. She was very excited to be in the mix and to get the role.”
While reflecting on what made her stand out in the audition process, the casting director says, “It was her fierce warrior nature for the role. The character has this incredible scene where she’s on a phone call with Ghostface, and she has to save her friend and [rattle] off a giant list of genre films in a desperate hour. I knew that she would have the passion and the energy to make that scene so believable, so heartbreaking, so intense — and she absolutely delivered all of those qualities.”
Dimension Films released Scream 4 in theaters on April 15, 2011, and it would go on to collect $97 million globally. Between the tepid commercial response and Craven’s subsequent passing in 2015, the franchise didn’t return to theaters until 2022’s Scream. With the series generating renewed buzz at that time, fans took to social media to push for Panettiere to return, despite Kirby appearing to be left for dead in Scream 4. The character came back for 2023’s Scream VI, in which she was working as an FBI special agent.
“It made me happy that she had been so successful in Scream 4 and that fans were wanting to see more,” Naylor says. “I remember being a fan of Nashville and thinking she was just magnificent in that series, and it was so touching and such a different vibe from Scream. It showed me how incredibly versatile she was.”
A number of castmembers from the Scream series have paid tribute to Panettiere, with Roberts posting, “You are so loved, and you will be forever missed.” Additionally, Arquette called her “such a brave and brilliant soul.” During a conversation with Entertainment Tonight in May, Panettiere deemed the role “one of my favorite characters to ever play” and said of Kirby, “She was brave and fierce and edgy.”
Adds Naylor, “I was excited to see that Hayden’s journey continued in the franchise. She is really special and so lovely, and it’s just so tragic what’s happened.”
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