Hayden Panettiere Gets Honest About Her Troubling Experiences As A Teen Star

From child actor to adult star, actor Hayden Panettiere has a ton of acting credits to her name. According to her IMDb profile, Panettiere starred in her first TV series, "Aliens in the Family," in 1996, and from there, her career blossomed. She later appeared in the soap "One Life to Live" from 1994 through 1997 and landed another significant role in 2000 in Denzel Washington's hit film "Remember the Titans." Later in life, she landed big-name shows like "Heroes" and "Nashville."

In 2015, Panettiere checked herself into rehab for postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya. Radar Online said that the star "voluntarily" checked herself into a treatment facility for help for postpartum. Sadly, many of the star's other struggles with drugs and alcohol have played out in the press, and she's made plenty of headlines for not-so-great reasons. In 2019, Radar Online reported that Panettiere was out with her then-boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, in Los Angeles, and she was visibly drunk. The year prior, Panettieres' mom told Radar Online that the star opted to take a break from acting for the time being. In March, TMZ captured Panettiere, and her boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, got into a brawl with a few patrons outside the Sunset Marquis restaurant on the strip. E! News shares that Hickerson was sentenced to 45 days in prison for injuring a spouse or girlfriend. Yikes. 

Now, Panettiere is getting more vulnerable than ever about her struggles with drugs and alcohol.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Growing up in the spotlight is not always a cakewalk, and we have seen several stars like talk about the hardships of being famous starting at such a young age. Hayden Panettiere is the latest celebrity to speak about her harsh experiences as a teenage starlet, and it's enough to break your heart. During an appearance on "Red Table Talk," the star shared a troubling experience when she was shooting the show "Heroes" at 16. Panettiere explained that while she did press for the show, she had a "little low-energy," so someone on her team intervened.

"It was, 'Here, take one of these, it's a happy pill, it'll give you energy,' so I didn't think of it at the time as a bad thing or a drug," she revealed, adding that she thinks the "happy pill" was likely Adderall. "I should have thought, 'That's so sketchy,' but I didn't because I trusted the person," she confessed. "It did give me that little bit of energy, and I didn't feel like high and out of control, but I did feel happy and like I was looking forward to doing interviews, yes."

This is not the first time the star has opened up about her struggles with addiction. In July, she spoke with People to share the tough time she went through with addiction and postpartum depression but luckily, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and now she feels she got a "second chance."