‘Lonely’ Hayden Panettiere was ‘struggling’ on final movie set before death, co-star says

Hayden Panettiere was “lonely” and “struggling” on set of her final movie, according to her “Sleepwalker” co-star.

Justin Chatwin shared with People on Monday that Panettiere, who died on Sunday at 36, “seemed different when [he] met her [that] time than when [he] met her in the early years.”

The actor, 43, noted, “I’ve been sober for 15 years, so I know this world of addiction, and Hollywood — it takes, and it takes from youth.”

Chatwin recalled the Golden Globe nominee “open[ing] up to [him] about a lot of things” while working together on the 2025 project.

“She was authentic with me about her life and she opened up about her struggles with addiction,” he remembered. “And who knows where it comes from? Does it come from Hollywood? Does it come from home? And a lot of times, it’s both.”

The duo “hit it off great” during the “awesome shoot.”

However, the film, which came out in January, “was about domestic abuse” — a “subject matter that may have hit close to home,” Chatwin said, referencing Panettiere’s allegedly abusive on-again, off-again relationship with Brian Hickerson.

“She did mention it,” he recalled.

While Chatwin “could tell she was struggling,” he told the outlet, “I was like, ‘I don’t think it’s this movie.’ … She was really lonely.”

“I’m sure that everyone else is going to say ‘Oh, she’s amazing. She’s such a sweet person on set,’ because she was,” he continued. “But we’re trained to be actors, so we’re acting on set, you know? And she is sweet. She had a beautiful heart.

Chatwin pointed out, “We’re trained to be on, and I really liked spending time with her because she took that off. … She was delightful and super open and we had a great time together and I’m just saddened that another one got taken down.”

Gayle King, who interviewed Panettiere in May to promote her “This Is Me: A Reckoning” memoir, similarly said the former soap star was “clearly still struggling” at the time.

Panettiere died in South Carolina over the weekend, where she reportedly flew with Hickerson on Saturday.

The “Heroes” alum kept her loved ones “in the dark” about her apparently rekindled romance with her ex, who pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend in 2021 over incidents involving Panettiere.

A judge denied his request to expunge the charges and reduce them to a misdemeanor days before Panettiere’s passing.

“If Brian was back in her life, then it was something she was hiding because she wasn’t speaking about it with many of her friends,” a source told Page Six. “If you’ve gone through some dark times with people, and spoken about it, then there can be shame if you get back together with that same person.”

We confirmed Monday that paramedics responded to an “unresponsive female” who had seemingly suffered an “overdose” and “cardiac arrest.”

The former child star was pronounced dead after unsuccessful resuscitation efforts, and her cause of death remains unknown — although the Greenville County Coroner’s Office stated her autopsy showed “no signs of trauma.”

Hickerson has yet to comment on Panettiere’s death, while the actress’ ex Wladimir Klitschko, with whom she shared 11-year-old daughter Kaya, penned a touching tribute Monday.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.

If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).