Hayden Panettiere's Final Interviews Will Break Your Heart

In some of the final interviews she gave before her death on Sunday (Aug. 16), Hayden Panettiere spoke about the troubles and tragedies she survived during her career in the entertainment industry.

The actor also shared an optimistic outlook on her future.

"I've closed one door and another door is opened," she said during a May appearance on Jay Shettty's On Purpose podcast.

"I can feel all the exciting possibilities," she added. "I feel like I have a lot more life to live."

Hayden Panettiere Dead at 36

Hayden Panettiere died unexpectedly on Sunday (Aug. 16.) She was 36 years old.
Her representative confirmed her death to ABC News. No cause of death has yet been announced.
Panettiere was known for her roles in Nashville, Heroes, the Scream movies and more.

What Did Hayden Panettiere Say in Her Final Interviews?

Hayden Panettiere did the media rounds this spring to promote the release of her memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning.

That included a stop at Jay Shetty's podcast, where she gave a lengthy interview about the turmoil and abuse she faced during her acting career, as well as her struggles with postpartum depression, addiction and more.

Toward the end of the interview, she spoke about finding hope in her healing process.

"I finally feel like I have shaken off all this darkness and this negativity," she says around the 2 hour, 2 minute mark. "And that means that I've closed one door and another door is opened, and I can feel...all the possibility, all the exciting possibilities."

"I feel like I have a lot more life to live," she says.

She also expressed her wish that her book will provide hope for others who may be facing struggles similar to what she went through.

"I just want it to help people," Panettiere continues."I want what I have gone through to be for a reason...and for that reason to be to help people. To help people go through whatever it is, whatever challenges they're facing, and to know that it's possible. It can be done."

What Did Hayden Panettiere Say In Her Final Interview About Motherhood?

Perhaps the last interview Panettiere gave during her life was to the parenting outlet Momé, where she shared her story of the traumatic labor and delivery she experienced with the 2014 birth of her daughter Kaya, as well as her battle with postpartum depression and alcohol dependency.

Panettiere gave full primary custody of her daughter to her ex-fiancé Wladimire Klitschko, who is Kaya's father, in 2018 — four years after Kaya was born.

"It wasn't a decision I made lightly, nor was it a decision I even wanted to make," Panettiere told Momé of the custody switch. "I was going through a really challenging time in my life...I knew I needed to be able to put her first so that I could get the help I needed and be the mom she needed me to be."

Panettiere recounted the emptiness of undiagnosed postpartum depression, and the shame she felt after her daughter's birth for not feeling "an instant rush of love" toward the baby.

"I had this great life, and was blessed in so many ways, but I felt empty," she said.

She began drinking heavily in order to cope with the depression, and subsequently received treatment for alcohol addiction. But Panettiere says she didn't receive the help she needed for the root cause of her struggles.

Though she ceded custody of Kaya, who now lives in another country (in Europe, primarily Ukraine, with her father), Panettiere said she's worked hard to be a good and connected mom to her daughter. She called herself "a work in progress," and that she was "doing the work and doing my best."

"I've been able to put her first no matter how I've felt or what I've experienced," Panettiere reflected. "...One day she'll understand my story, and why I wasn't able to be with her all the time."

"A good mom is someone who loves their child unconditionally, puts them first, tries to live by example, and always lets them know they're rooting for them — no matter what," she went on to say. "Someone they can turn to in any season of their lives, without judgment."