Hayden Panettiere Claims Her ‘Nashville’ Character Mirrored Her Personal Life
Hayden Panettiere says her art was imitating her life.
After starring on Nashville for six years, Panettiere, 34, has revealed that she battled with alcoholism, addiction, and postpartum depression in her life, much like her character on the TV series. Panettiere played the role of Juliette Barnes, a country music singer who rose to fame in Music City, but struggled with substance abuse.
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Panettiere said the show was “very traumatizing, because I felt like I was acting out my own life,” as revealed in an interview with The Messenger.
“Straight from the beginning, it was like, I’m dating a football player, [and then] Juliette dates a football player. And then they turned her into an alcoholic. Then they turned to her leaving her daughter and going to this crazy [place] in Europe, and it was very obvious…” she said.
“They weren’t doing their homework. They weren’t creating new storylines. They were just looking at my life and going, ‘Oh, let’s just take what she’s going through and put our little spin on it.’ And then, ta-da! It’s done and done.”
Add in 12- to 20-hour days working, and Panettiere said the stress affected her wellness.
“I didn’t have time to take care of myself [and] to think about and go through the pain I was experiencing physically [and] emotionally. I just wanted to drum it out and watch mindless television and great shows,” she said.
“Anything to keep my mind off of that because I knew that next day I was going to be back at it again. I was like, tear central. I don’t even think on a soap opera that I cried as much [as I did] on ‘Nashville.’”
The star is preparing to kick off a tour at the end of February.
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