Hayden Panettiere Shares her Struggles With Addiction

The “Ice Princess” star Hayden Panettiere, 32, shared in an interview with PEOPLE on Wednesday, that she began battling with alcohol and opioid addiction during the earlier stages of her acting career.

Hayden began her acting career very early and by the time she was 11, she had already made appearances in several soap operas. Hayden starred in Remember the Titans opposite Denzel Washington, she starred in Disney’s “Tiger Cruise,” she also starred in “Bring It On: All or Nothing.”

Hayden Panettiere — On How She Started Taking Pills

Hayden said she was offered “happy pills” for the first time when she was just 15, and that she had no idea it would become a gateway to her addiction. “They were to make me peppy during interviews. I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.”

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As her career flourished, Hayden said she was able to maintain sobriety on set, but she couldn’t say the same about her time off set, and that as she got older, the urge to take it was persistent. “My saving grace is that I couldn’t be messy while on set and working,” Hayden said. “But things kept getting out of control [off set]. And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”

Hayden also spoke about her experiences with postpartum depression, sharing that her role as troubled country star Juliette Barnes in Nashville “hit close to home.”

Hayden’s real-life pregnancy was written into the series, yielding scripts that centered on the difficulties that followed it. “Those were really tough years,” she said of the period after her daughter Kaya, who is now 7, was born. “I could relate to a lot of those storylines like the alcoholism and postpartum depression.” She sought treatment for depression, but her addiction hurdles remained: “I was on top of the world and I ruined it,” she said.

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Hayden Panettiere — On Her Sobriety

An eight-month stint in rehab helped the actress break out of what she described as a “cycle of self-destruction.” She expressed her gratitude for finally being clean and said it’s one she’ll never take for granted. “It’s an everyday choice, and I’m checking in with myself all the time,” Hayden said. “But I’m just so grateful to be part of this world again, and I will never take it for granted again.”

Hayden will reprise her fan-favorite role as Kirby Reed in Scream 6, scheduled for a March 2023 theatrical release. The actress appeared in 2011’s Scream 4 but did not return for this year’s fifth installment, which starred newcomers Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, and Jenna Ortega and original stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette.

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Hayden Panettiere right now. Come back here often for all Hayden Panettiere’s spoilers, news, and updates.

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