Hayden Panettiere, who voiced Kairi across the Kingdom Hearts series and played Sam Giddings in Supermassive Games' Until Dawn, has died at the age of 36. Her death in Greenville, South Carolina on Sunday, August 16 was confirmed by her father, Alan "Skip" Panettiere, in a statement given to ABC News.
It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen.
A cause of death has not been disclosed. Panettiere's publicist, Kasey Kitchen, told NBC News that an investigation was ongoing, and the Greenville Police Department said the case is being handled with the Greenville County Coroner's Office, Dexerto reports. Police said the preliminary investigation "has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances" and that an acquaintance placed the 911 call. Panettiere would have turned 37 on August 21.
In games, Panettiere voiced Kairi in the original Kingdom Hearts and reprised the role in Kingdom Hearts 2 and Birth by Sleep, and she voiced Xion in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. She had not played Kairi since 2010, with Alyson Stoner taking over the part in later entries, but the original performance remains highly regarded by the series' players. She provided both voice and motion capture for Sam Giddings in Until Dawn in 2015 and returned for a post-credits scene in the 2024 remake, her final credited video game role. Her earlier game credits include The Mark of Kri.
Supermassive Games said Panettiere had shaped Sam into "one of horror gaming's most iconic final girls". Haley Joel Osment, the voice of Kingdom Hearts protagonist Sora, posted an image of her to his Instagram story captioned "Rest in Peace". Stoner wrote: "From one Kairi to another… One sky, one destiny," and sent condolences to Panettiere's family and to the Kingdom Hearts community.
Outside games, Panettiere was best known as Claire Bennet in NBC's Heroes, the character behind the show's "Save the cheerleader, save the world" line, and as country singer Juliette Barnes in Nashville, a role that earned her two Golden Globe nominations. She played Kirby Reed in Scream 4 and Scream 6, and appeared in Remember the Titans, Ice Princess and Bring It On: All or Nothing. She began working as a child, appearing in commercials at 11 months old and joining the soap opera One Life to Live at four, and voiced Dot in Pixar's A Bug's Life. Earlier this year she published a memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, covering her career and her struggles with postpartum depression, addiction and recovery. She is survived by her daughter, Kaya, and her parents.
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