Hayden Lesley Panettiere was born in and partly raised in Palisades, New York. She is the daughter of Lesley R. Vogel, a former soap opera actress, and Alan Lee “Skip” Panettiere, a fire captain.
After Panettiere attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York, she was homeschooled and had private tutors from grade nine to the completion of high school to accommodate her acting schedule.
Panettiere first appeared in commercials at the age of eleven months, beginning with an advertisement for a Playskool toy train. She landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from 1994 to 1997, which was followed by Lizzie Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light in 1996, and again from 1997 to 2000. While on Guiding Light, Panettiere’s character Lizzie battled leukemia. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society gave her its Special Recognition Award for drawing the attention of daytime viewers to the disease, and for improving national awareness.
For her performance in Lifetime Television’s 1999 TV movie If You Believe, she was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Young Actress Age Ten or Under in the category of Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot. Panettiere appeared on Fox’s Ally McBeal as the title character’s daughter, played the daughter of a man transitioning to female in HBO Films’ Normal, had a recurring guest role on Malcolm in the Middle and guest starred in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in two different roles. In 2004, Panettiere had her first starring role in the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise.
Panettiere gained greater fame as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes, which was created by Tim Kring, as a high school cheerleader with regenerative healing powers. Thanks to her role on Heroes, she became a regular on the science fiction convention circuit, invited to attend conventions around the world in 2007, including Gen Con, New York Comic Con, and Fan Expo Canada. Panettiere has complained that her acting options are sometimes limited because “people look at [her] as either the popular cheerleader type or just the blonde”.
In March 2012, it was announced Panettiere had been cast opposite Connie Britton on the ABC musical drama series Nashville, where she portrayed Juliette Barnes. The show reunited Panettiere with Burgess Jenkins (who appears in the first few episodes) from Remember the Titans. The show moved from ABC to CMT for its fifth and sixth seasons, and concluded its run on July 26, 2018.
Panettiere made her feature film debut, albeit as a voice actor, for 1998’s A Bug’s Life, but her first released film was the same year’s The Object of My Affection, in which she appears briefly as a mermaid in the school play in the opening scene. In 1999, she portrayed the girl on a sinking sailboat in Message in a Bottle. She played the role of Coach Yoast’s daughter, Sheryl, in the 2000 Disney film Remember the Titans. In 2004, she played Kate Hudson’s title character’s adolescent niece in Raising Helen. In 2005, she was the title character’s rival in a skating contest in Ice Princess. In the same year she played the main (human) role in the film Racing Stripes as budding jockey Channing Walsh. She subsequently starred in 2006’s Bring It On: All or Nothing as a cheerleader and had a supporting role as Adelaide Bourbon in the 2007 independent film Shanghai Kiss.
In 2008, Panettiere appeared in the drama Fireflies in the Garden as a younger version of Emily Watson’s character, Jane Lawrence. In September 2008, she appeared in a satirical video, a mock-PSA for Funny or Die titled “Hayden Panettiere PSA: Your Vote, Your Choice”. In October, Panettiere appeared in another satirical PSA video on funnyordie.com titled “Vote for McCain: He’s just like George Bush, except older and with a worse temper”.
In July 2009, Panettiere starred in the teen comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper. In September 2010, she starred as Amanda Knox in the controversial Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy. Panettiere also provided the voice of Kate in 2010’s Alpha and Omega.
Panettiere was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999 for A Bug’s Life. In 2004, she recorded a song entitled “My Hero Is You” with a video for the Disney Channel film she starred in, Tiger Cruise, and “Someone Like You,” a duet with Watt White for another film, The Dust Factory (also with an accompanying video). The next year she recorded a song entitled “I Fly” for the Disney film Ice Princess in which she also co-starred. She recorded a song for the Hollywood Records compilation Girl Next (2006) and another song entitled “Go to Girl” for Girl Next 2 (2007). Also in 2007, she recorded a cover for “Cruella De Vil” for Disneymania 5, “Try” for the Bridge to Terabithia soundtrack and a ballad called “I Still Believe” for Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.
Panettiere’s first single not associated with an acting role, “Wake Up Call”, was digitally released on August 5, 2008. The clothing brand Candie’s announced that it was premiering an ad campaign for the single in late July. Candie’s provided additional promotion for the single with a television advertisement and a music video. Sebastian Stan, who portrayed the brother of Panettiere’s character in The Architect, played her boyfriend in the video.
She has recorded several songs for Nashville, which were released as singles and included on the show’s soundtrack albums. She also made numerous concert appearances associated with the show’s touring promotion. In 2013, Panettiere recorded a version of “The Fabric of My Life” for a Cotton Incorporated campaign.