Hayden Panettiere Reveals She Was ‘Groomed’ to Be a Child Star

Hayden Panettiere has shared in a new interview that she feels she was forced into working as a child star, with no real choice of her own. The 36-year-old is set to release her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. She spoke about how she was “groomed” to be an actress from a young age. Panettiere also compared her state to a “little soldier.”

Hayden Panettiere says she was ‘pushed’ into acting

In a recent conversation, the Scream franchise star opened up about her unusual upbringing. She shared how she never really got the chance to choose acting, but instead, it was imposed on her.

“I think it’s the way I was raised,” Hayden Panettiere told The Hollywood Reporter, when asked about feeling pressure to constantly work and honor commitments. She added, “I was groomed. 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.”

Notably, Panettiere started appearing on the screen when she was just one. By the time she turned four, she already had a regular TV role. The pressure of all this reportedly culminated in the “Telescope” singer’s substance abuse.

“The pressure of that built and built and just exploded,” Panettiere continued. “I 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.”

Additionally, Hayden Panettiere admitted that it remained hard for her to advocate for herself. “I would push myself to do whatever they wanted on set, but it was too much for any one person,” she divulged.

The Heroes actress also reflected on whether she would have wanted her younger self to follow the path she did. “That’s the thing is I will always wonder if I would have gravitated naturally towards acting if I had not been pushed into it,” she stated. “But I see my daughter, at 11 years old, taking an interest.”

Furthermore, Panettiere spoke about how she encourages her daughter to try everything out herself first. Meanwhile, her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, will arrive on May 19, 2026.

The post Hayden Panettiere Reveals She Was ‘Groomed’ to Be a Child Star appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.