Hayden Panettiere's 15 Best Movies and TV Shows

Hayden PanettiereThe series' best films and TV shows reveal an actress who got her start as a child actress before becoming one of the most successful television actors of the last decade. Panettiere began her career as a second-generation star, her mother (Lesley Vogel) was a former soap opera actress. She was homeschooled throughout high school and had private tutors that allowed her to finish high school while acting full-time as a teenager. This is a result of her acting in commercials since she was eleven months old.

Panettiere was just five years old when she landed her first recurring role on the daytime soap opera One life to liveand she has been acting ever since. Although she has mostly stuck to major TV roles, she has also worked in a few films throughout her career, with roles in a Pixar film, the inspirational sports drama Remember the Titansand the horror franchise Scream. However, She is best known for TV, with roles in Heroes and nashville as the highlights of his young career.

15

I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)

Hayden Panettiere played Beth Cooper

In 2009, Chris Columbus (Alone at home) directed Hayden Panettiere in a teen romantic comedy based on the novel by Larry Doyle (who also wrote the screenplay). Paul Rust stars as valedictorian Denis Cooverman, a young man who admits in his graduation day speech his love for cheerleader Beth Cooper (Panettiere). However, he also provokes Beth's rich snob, bully, and Army soldier boyfriend. After he invites Beth to a party at his house, the people he provoked show up seeking revenge.

Although the film received a terrible critical review (13% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences had a better opinion of the film, with a score of 32% on Popcornmeter. The main complaints were regarding the script itself, but the performance was largely approved. Panettiere gave a solid performance as Beth Cooper, showing compassion and care in a role often played as snobbish and vain.

14

It May Come: All or Nothing (2006)

Hayden Panettiere played Britney Allen

You can come began in 2000 with the cheerleading film starring Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku. Following the success of that film, sequels arrived with new cast members and the third film in the series, All or nothingbrought Hayden Panettiere to the lead role alongside Solange Knowles-Smith. Panettiere stars as Britney, the high school cheerleader and girlfriend of the school's star quarterback.

She is also very rich, but when her father loses his job, her life comes crashing down around her as she is forced to move to a working-class school, and she has to reinvent herself in a new hierarchy. The film doesn't rate as highly as the first film in the franchise, but it's still better than some of the digital TV releases that followed it. Although she received almost no attention from critics, Panettiere continued to showcase her acting talent in leading roles, this part of the fans came the same year she joined Heroes as a cheerleader.

13

Deceived too! Hood vs. Evil (2011)

Hayden Panettiere played Red Puckett

Although the films were box office bombs and critical disappointments, there is something charming about both Deceived films. The first film was an animated version of Rashomonwith a crime happening and everyone telling their side of the story before the truth was revealed. The second film was a little more straightforward as an animated thriller. The second also saw the recasting of two main roles one of them saw Hayden Panettiere replacing Anne Hathaway as Little Red Riding Hood.

In Deceived too! Hood vs. EvilPanettiere voices Red, who now works as a secret agent alongside Grandma (Glenn Close) and Wolf W. Wolf (Patrick Warburton). They rush to save the kidnapped Hansel and Gretel, only to discover that the two are not as innocent as they act. As mentioned, the film was a box office failure and reviews were terrible, with just an 11% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, reviews aren't everything, and this is a charming film that allows her talent as a voice actress to shine.

12

Amber Alert (2024)

Hayden Panettiere played Jacqueline/Jaq

In 2024, Hayden Panettiere stars in the mystery thriller Amber Alert, the story of a shared ride that turns scary. Panettiere plays Jaq, who is carpooling with Shane (Tyler James Williams) when they receive an Amber Alert on their phones about a child abduction. They then realize that the car in front of them matches the kidnappers' description. The two then set off in a race against time to save the kidnapped child, while also realizing the dangers inherent in the kidnappers themselves.

The film has average reviews from critics and audiences, with 63% fresh and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes' Popcornmeter. Positive reviews say that things take a while in the film, but it's worth watching, mainly because of the tension-filled script and the performances of Panettiere and Williams. As for audience reviews, most praised its tension and gripping plot, with some saying it was a B-movie that was elevated thanks to the acting performances.

11

Guiding Light (1996-2000)

Hayden Panettiere played Lizzie Spaulding

Hayden Panettiere began her career as a child actress on the daytime soap opera One life to live. After leaving that soap opera, she got a second role on a different soap opera, this one on CBS Guiding Light. She played the character Lizzie Spaulding for 44 episodes in one of the main roles. Although it was the lead role, the actress was only seven years old when she joined the cast. Spaulding is the daughter of Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines, born on screen and aging quickly when Panettiere joined the cast.

Panettiere was the first actress to play the role after the original Baby. She was on the soap until 2000, where she was replaced by MacKenzie Mauzy, Allison Hirschlag, Crustal Hunt and Emme Rylan. The last actress to play the role is actually eight years older than Panettiere. The soap opera ran for 72 seasons before being canceled in 2009, and Lizzie lasted until the soap opera finally went off the air.

10

Heroes Reborn (2015-2016)

Hayden Panettiere played Claire Bennet

In 2015, NBC decided to revive the series Heroes and bring back most of the surviving cast members to Heroes Reborn. This included bringing back Hayden Panettiere, although she dies during childbirth in the new series. The new series saw several people with superpowers who had to save the world, even on the run as vigilantes wanted by the law. Although the series only lasted 13 episodes and one season, it was still an interesting return for the franchise.

The rebooted series scored 53 out of 100 on Metacriticwhich means mixed to average reviews and a 42% score on Rotten Tomatoes. A big difference between Heroes Reborn and the original Heroes was that it was made as a closed series with a beginning, middle and end, instead of the long-running format of the original series, which lost steam in the final season. What really hurt was that actors like Hayden Panettiere only got small archival roles and didn't come back.

9

Dinosaur (2000)

Hayden Panettiere played Suri

In 2000, Disney Animation released the live-action/animated film Dinosaur. This film follows a young iguanodon (DB Sweeney) adopted by a family of lemurs on a tropical island after a meteor impact. They then set out to find a new home with another herd of dinosaurs while dealing with the stern leader of that group. Hayden Panettiere voices a member of the lemur family, a young and fun character called Suri, granddaughter of Yar (Ossie Davis) and daughter of Pilo (Alfre Woodard).

This was a strange time in Disney Animation releases, following the huge success of the 1990s, but in a lull before its resurgence in the late 2000s. Critics gave the film average reviews, with a 65% rating on Rotten tomatoes. The biggest complaints were regarding the plot compared to other Disney Animation releases. Still, the biggest praise went to its visuals, some of the best CGI animation of that era. He has received five Annie Awards nominations.

8

One Life to Live (1994-1996)

Hayden Panettiere played Sarah Roberts

Hayden Panettiere landed her big first role at the age of five on the daytime soap opera One life to live. This was in 1994, where she played the character Sarah Roberts. At just five years old, she was still considered a “leading role” in the soap opera as the daughter of Tina Lord and Cord Roberts. In fact, she was the second recast for the role, after child actresses Alexa and Zoe Fisher played Sarah as children and Courtney Chase replaced them in 1993 as a child. In 1994, Panettiere took on the role.

Panettiere only played the role from 1994 to 1997 before leaving the soap opera to take on another children's role in Guiding Light. She lasted until 1997, when the story made her mother move to Baltimore. After Panettiere's departure, the character disappeared until 2003, when Shanelle Workman took on the role as a teenager. Justis Bolding took on the role from 2007 to 2009 and the character has been missing from the soap ever since.

7

Scream 4 (2011)

Hayden Panettiere played Kirby Reed

Hayden Panettiere has joined the cast of Scream franchise in Scream 4. In this film, she played Kirby Reed, a horror film fan and best friend of Sidney Prescott's (Neve Campbell) cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts). This was a slight reboot of the franchise, moving things into the future and bringing in the next generation while still retaining the previous main characters (Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette). The film received a 60% score from Rotten Tomatoes and helped spawn more sequels with Panettiere's return.

This was the beginning for Panettiere, as his Kirby Reed went from being a horror fan pursued by the new Ghostface to becoming a police officer looking to stop these serial killers in the future. It was a solid introduction for her character and proved that the franchise could live beyond Campbell's Sidney Prescott and move into the future with new stories and heroes.

6

A Bug's Life (1998)

Hayden Panettiere played Princess Dot

In 1998, at the age of nine, Hayden Panettiere provided the voice of one of Pixar's first films, Bug's Life. This was Pixar's second animated film, after Toy Story. It's a movie about a misfit ant named Flik who wants to find some warriors who can help him save his ant colony from a protection network run by some badass grasshoppers. The problem is that your help comes in the form of Circus Bugs. It is based on the fable, The ant and the grasshopper.

This is one of Pixar's most overlooked animated films, one that few people talk about when ranking their favorites from the animation studio. This is shocking, as the film was a huge success, grossing $363 million at the box office. It also has a recent score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, showing that it was also a critical darling. Hayden Panettiere voices Princess Dot, the Queen's youngest daughter and Flik's good friend.

5

Scream VI (2023)

Hayden Panettiere played Kirby Reed

In 2023, Neve Campbell stepped away from Scream franchise, and the films were looking for a new main scream queen. While Courteney Cox returned, the main cast was from the last film, with Jenna Ortega still in a major role, along with Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown among the cast members returning from Scream V. This was the only Scream film to not include Campbell, who refused to return because of a dispute over his salary.

As for Panettiere, she was back as Kirby Reed, one of the survivors of the 2011 Woodsboro murders, who now works as an FBI agent. She first appeared in Scream 4, which made his second appearance. In her first appearance, she was targeted by the Ghostface killer but managed to make it out alive, although this was not revealed until she was seen in a photo in the fifth film. In Scream VIshe was back as an FBI agent and a new fan favorite. The sixth film has a fresh score of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.

4

Heroes (2006-2010)

Hayden Panettiere played Claire Bennet

Although she had been acting since the age of five in films and TV shows, this was her role in the 2006 sci-fi superhero series. Heroes that Hayden Panettiere became a star. The entire tagline for the first season was "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World." The series' cheerleader was actually Claire Bennet from Panettiere. She is, as the tagline suggests, a high school cheerleader and has superpowers to spontaneously regenerate.

Claire was in more Heroes episodes than any other character, appearing in 72 episodes total (plus one more with archival footage). Unfortunately, she dies in Heroes Rebornbut that doesn't negate its importance to the original series. She received praise for her performance in Heroes and remains one of the series' most memorable characters. Heroes It lasted four seasons and 77 episodes and won several Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.

3

Remember the Titans (2000)

Hayden Panettiere played Sheryl Yoast

In 2000, Hayden Panettiere took on a role in the inspirational sports film, Remember the Titans. Denzel Washington stars in this film as a black coach hired to lead the football team at a newly integrated high school in Virginia with predominantly white players. This causes problems when the school names him head coach instead of the established coach who was already there. The story is based on the real story of Herman Boone, who had to unite a team in the face of racial drama.

Hayden Panettiere has the supporting role of Sheryl Yoast in the film, daughter of coach Bill Yoastthe man who lost his head coaching job to Herman Boone, only to stay on as an assistant anyway. The role made her deal with racial issues as she saw how demotion affected her father. The film has a recent rating of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. It also won Best Picture at the NAACP Image Awards.

2

Nashville (2012-2018)

Hayden Panettiere played Juliette Barnes

Although Hayden Panettiere is best known for her role in Heroesshe performed better in the drama series nashville. This series, airing on ABC, followed fictional country music singers in Nashville as they struggled for success. Connie Britton stars as Rayna Jaymes, a legendary country singer who is seeing her fame begin to fade. On the other side, Panettiere stars as Juliette Barnes, a young star on the rise who is seeing his fame start to grow at the same time.

The series lasted six seasons and 124 episodes. While Panettiere was one of the main stars throughout the show, Britton left after the fifth season and was only a guest in the sixth season. As expected, as Juliette makes it big to replace Rayna on the country charts, there's always someone waiting behind her to take her place. The second and third seasons had 100% perfect scores on Rotten Tomatoes and Panettiere earned two Golden Globe nominations for her performance.

1

Ally McBeal (2002)

Hayden Panettiere played Maddie Harrington

In 2002, Hayden Panettiere has joined the cast of Ally McBeal. At 13 years old, the actress has signed on for the final fifth season as Maddie Harrington, daughter of Calista Flockhart's Ally McBeal. The series is a legal comedy-drama about Ally, who works for a Boston law firm, but the main story focuses on the personal and romantic lives of the lawyers who work there. The show aired on Fox from 1997 to 2002 and featured stars such as Jane Krakowski, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Robert Downey Jr. and James Marsden.

The big change in the fifth and final season saw Maddie (who was 10 years old in the world of the series) appear and claim to be Ally's daughter (a mix-up at an egg bank years earlier where Ally left her eggs). The rest of the season finds Ally trying to figure out how to be a mother to Maddie, and it's her daughter who convinces her to leave for New York, ending the series. At just 13 years old, Hayden Panettiere proved she was a star in the making.