Actress Hayden Panettiere remembered as ‘amazing talent’ after death at 36

Hayden Panettiere was remembered on Monday as an “amazing talent.”

The actress, who launched a career as a child actor, including an appearance in “Remember the Titans,” and later became a TV star with leading roles in “Heroes” and “Nashville,” died over the weekend at age 36, according to her representatives.

Panettiere also starred in “Raising Helen,” “Ice Princess” and several “Scream” films.

Panettiere’s former co-stars and industry colleagues paid tribute to her this week, following her death.

“What an amazing talent you were….so gifted,” Viola Davis, the Oscar-winning actress who co-starred with Panettiere in the 2016 film “Custody,” wrote in the caption of an Instagram post Monday morning.

Davis described Panettiere as “an old, wise soul with such a deep heart,” adding, “I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming.”

Panettiere’s “Heroes” co-star James Kyson said he was “deeply saddened and so shocked” by her death, remembering her in an Instagram post as a “bright spirit” who was passionate about animal rights and sharing kindness.

“I first met Hayden when she was 16, and she was already a veteran actor with such bright spirit, and an older soul,” Kyson wrote. “I remember her as a fierce protector of animal rights and a ‘cheerleader’ for kindness, justice, and people being treated fairly – something that l’ve always appreciated.”

He added, “May your soul Rest in Peace Hayden… and my deepest condolences & prayers for her family Life can be so short… let’s send some love out to the world, our loved ones, and to those who need it most today.”

SAG-AFTRA, a union representing performers and broadcasters, wrote in a social media post, “Our hearts are with her daughter, family, friends & fans.”

Actress Bethany Joy Lenz, who starred alongside Panettiere on the soap opera “Guiding Light” in the late 1990s, paid tribute to her former co-star in an Instagram post.

“I’m crushed. I knew the wild little blonde. Was she nine? Ten? I was eighteen,” Lenz wrote on Instagram alongside a carousel of photos, including several shots of Panettiere as a young girl. “She ran through the Screen Gem studio hallways at 222 E44th St. laughing and playing games in between Guiding Light blocking and camera rehearsals. Long, unruly curls trailing behind her. She knew her lines and everyone else’s. Her intelligence was astonishing.”

Lenz wrote that Panettiere “understood scenes and nuance and human struggle like no child I’d ever seen on camera” and would “sit with you for a great conversation, then giggle and go play.”

“These are moments of how I knew you, in glimpses over 26 years. I don’t know how to process this. I am praying for you to know the peace of God now and always,” she added.

Actress Heather Matarazzo also remembered Panettiere in a post on Instagram.

“Devastated…….. We first met on the [Long Island Rail Road] traveling to NYC for auditions when we were both kids,” she wrote. “Every time our paths crossed, my heart always filled up. She was special. She was a Sprite of a being and such a talent. Truly a light…. Love you, Hayden.”

Panettiere died in South Carolina, her representative told ABC News late Sunday night, and an investigation into her death is “ongoing.”

Further details surrounding Panettiere’s death were not immediately available.

Panettiere had been candid about her struggles from child stardom through adulthood. She released a memoir this past May titled “This Is Me: A Reckoning.”

She is the mother to one child, her daughter Kaya Klitschko, whom she had in 2014 with her ex-fiance, heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.