{"id":3731,"date":"2026-05-27T21:01:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/hayden-panettiere-reflects-on-brutal-child-star-experience-ive-been-groomed\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T21:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:01:30","slug":"hayden-panettiere-reflects-on-brutal-child-star-experience-ive-been-groomed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/hayden-panettiere-reflects-on-brutal-child-star-experience-ive-been-groomed\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayden Panettiere reflects on &#8216;brutal&#8217; child star experience: &#8216;I&#8217;ve been groomed&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F05%2F128866331.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/27\/celebrity-news\/hayden-panettiere-guilt-ridden-that-she-was-incapable-of-parenting-daughter-kaya\/\">Hayden Panettiere<\/a> is reflecting on the darker side of growing up in Hollywood.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cNashville\u201d alum, 36, got candid about her \u201cbrutal\u201d experience as a child star during a panel discussion Tuesday night in West Hollywood, California, for her new memoir,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.com\/v3\/__https:\/\/r.pagesixlink.com\/?btn_ref=org-282f0dd399864b44&amp;btn_url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.amazon.com*2FThis-Me-Reckoning-Hayden-Panettiere*2Fdp*2F1538773422*3Ftag*3Dpagesix-20*26asc_refurl*3Dhttps*3A*2F*2Fpagesix.com*2F2026*2F05*2F20*2Fentertainment*2Fhayden-panettiere-details-uncomfortable-connie-britton-dynamic-on-nashville-set*2F*26asc_source*3Dweb__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUl!!F0Stn7g!FqnOGSmg1PxiHwGNdcFjO6v6n9_P7gujltiKKS_NkTULrA0ZLr4La7bT7LuhJnJCcYTOAYYKGpfeaSJp%24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">\u201cThis Is Me: A Reckoning.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had my first identity crisis,\u201d Panettiere shared. \u201cI remember exactly where I was, standing in my bedroom at 12 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Hayden Panettiere got candid about her \u201cbrutal\u201d experience as a child star during a panel discussion Tuesday night in West Hollywood, California, for her new memoir, \u201cThis Is Me: A Reckoning.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Sarah Jones\/Page Six<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The \u201cNashville\u201d alum reflected on the darker side of growing up in Hollywood. <span class=\"credit\">Sarah Jones\/Page Six<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Golden Globe nominee \u2014 who began appearing in commercials as an infant before landing roles on soap operas \u201cOne Life to Live\u201d in 1994 and \u201cGuiding Light\u201d in 1996 \u2014 explained that she spent much of her childhood either \u201cplaying characters\u201d or sitting in audition rooms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the most brutal experience, like the stark cold room, and just this row of people judging you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Panettiere recalled how things shifted once producers realized she could cry on command while working on \u201cGuiding Light.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll never forget it,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cOnce they figured that out, it was just like, I never stopped crying.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The actress began appearing in commercials as an infant before landing roles on soap operas \u201cOne Life to Live\u201d in 1994 and \u201cGuiding Light\u201d in 1996. (She\u2019s seen above in November 1998.) <span class=\"credit\">Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Panettiere explained she spent much of her childhood either \u201cplaying characters\u201d or sitting in audition rooms. <span class=\"credit\">Sarah Jones\/Page Six<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou go through life experiences, and the imagery, you then have to go to places that you bring yourself are so dark and so ugly,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd you\u2019re sitting there, then afterwards, getting praise and love for it. You\u2019re going, \u2018Oh my God, when I feel pain, I get love.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Panettiere admitted, \u201cI wasn\u2019t checking in with myself. I\u2019m a perfectionist. Like, I\u2019ve been groomed. I\u2019m so militant because, I\u2019ve been groomed from such a young age that you don\u2019t ask questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone says, \u2018you stand on the mark, you get your lines right, I ask you to throw yourself in a building in the middle of the night in the pouring rain\u2019 over and over and over again. These crazy stunts. You\u2019re like, \u2018Cool, yeah, sure. No problem, no problem.\u2019 Again, again, again, again, again, and, and I just got to an age where I was just so emotional and so upset all the time that I was trying anything to make it okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cIt\u2019s the most brutal experience, like the stark cold room, and just this row of people judging you,\u201d she said. (Seen above in February 2002.) <span class=\"credit\">WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The \u201cHeroes\u201d alum said she was aware at a very young age that the emotional toll would eventually \u201ccome out sideways\u201d in adulthood. (She\u2019s seen here in January 2017.) <span class=\"credit\">FilmMagic<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The \u201cHeroes\u201d alum said she was aware at a very young age that <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/11\/celebrity-news\/hayden-panettiere-details-being-put-in-bed-with-an-undressed-very-famous-man-at-18\/\">the emotional toll<\/a> would eventually \u201ccome out sideways\u201d in adulthood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m playing all these characters and I feel like they\u2019re genuine and they\u2019re a part of me, but who am I outside of this?\u201d she recalled wondering at the time. \u201cWhat is my identity?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Panel moderator and \u201cTrue Detective\u201d actress Alyshia Ochse later asked Panettiere whether she ever learned how to emotionally recover after being constantly praised for immediately accessing <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/19\/celebrity-news\/hayden-panettiere-claims-mom-superglued-teeth-in-her-mouth-when-hers-fell-out\/\">vulnerability as a child actor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, obviously, it wasn\u2019t, it was not good. It was not healthy,\u201d Panettiere responded.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The Golden Globe nominee has been candid in recent years about her struggles with addiction, postpartum depression and growing up in the spotlight as a child actor. (Seen above in September 2024.) <span class=\"credit\">GC Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Panettiere\u2019s new memoir, \u201cThis Is Me: A Reckoning,\u201d chronicles many of her experiences in greater detail. <span class=\"credit\">Sarah Jones\/Page Six<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The actress said one of the hardest realities of working in television at a young age was committing years of her life to projects she barely understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you sign onto a project, you were signing six years of your life away based on one script,\u201d she said. \u201cSo you really don\u2019t know what you\u2019re up for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t realize how much it was affecting me until I just became so resentful and ugly and upset, and then when I went home, I could not get myself out of like a corner of the bed, like the bed became my safe nook.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Panettiere has been candid in recent years about her struggles with addiction, postpartum depression and growing up in the spotlight as a child actor. Her new memoir, \u201cThis Is Me: A Reckoning,\u201d hit stands May 19 and chronicles many of those experiences in greater detail.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/27\/celebrity-news\/hayden-panettiere-reflects-on-brutal-child-star-experience-ive-been-groomed\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hayden Panettiere is reflecting on the darker side of growing up in Hollywood. The \u201cNashville\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128866331.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}