Hayden Panettiere Shared the Heartbreaking Reason Why Working on Nashville Became ‘Traumatizing’

Hayden Panettiere has been open about her struggles with addiction to alcohol and opioids since she came forward in 2022 — after years of battling the disease. Her life also became fodder for tabloid headlines as she weathered through her mental health issues, postpartum depression, and a tumultuous relationship with her ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko. But there are many more layers to her story, and it’s heartbreaking to hear.

Much of the 34-year-old actrress’ difficult time happened while she was starring on Nashville, playing Juliette Barnes, a rising superstar in the country music industry. While she loved playing the character and the opportunity it gave her in Hollywood, she also described it to The Messenger as “very traumatizing because I felt like I was acting out my own life.” Panettiere began to notice that her personal struggles became the main storyline for her role. 

Related story Hayden Panettiere Is Making Moves in Her Hollywood Comeback With This Major Project

“Straight from the beginning, it was like, I’m dating a football player, [and then] Juliette dates a football player. And then they turned her into an alcoholic,” Panettiere noted. “Then they turned to her leaving her daughter and going to this crazy [place] in Europe, and it was very obvious … They weren’t doing their homework. They weren’t creating new storylines.” Those blurred lines were pretty confusing because they gave the Heroes star no relief from the burdens of swirling life. 

“They were just looking at my life and going, ‘Oh, let’s just take what she’s going through and put our little spin on it.’ And then, ta-da! It’s done and done,” she added. The long days on set resulted in her mental health declining rapidly. “I didn’t have time to take care of myself [and] to think about and go through the pain I was experiencing physically [and] emotionally,” Panettiere explained. She had to relive her daily struggles on and off the set. “I was like, tear central. I don’t even think on a soap opera that I cried as much [as I did] on Nashville,” she said. 

Panettiere first shared her struggles with her fans in 2022 after she revealed that her years as a child star caused enormous pressure. Her heavy drinking began in her early 20s as a way to self-soothe. “I was being told how to be and how to live by so many people in my life,” she told Women’s Health. “I wanted certain decisions to be my own, and nobody could stop me. What I put in my body was like an act of defiance.”

After the birth of her daughter, Kaya, in 2014, the downward spiral took on a frenetic pace as her PPD and opioid addiction added another layer to her problems. By 2018, her on-and-off battle with substance abuse led to her losing custody of her daughter to Klitschko which she described to Red Table Talk as “the most heartbreaking thing” she’s ever faced.

Related story Hayden Panettiere Is Making Moves in Her Hollywood Comeback With This Major Project

Before you go, click here to see celebrities who have struggled with drug or alcohol addiction.