“She opened up to me about a lot of things”: Justin Chatwin recalls his late co-star Hayden Panettiere’s “struggles” while filming her final movie

Koustav Mandal Tue, August 18, 2026 at 11:26 AM UTC

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Following the sudden passing of Hayden Panettiere on August 16, 2026, her longtime friend and co-star Justin Chatwin opened up about the actress's struggles.

According to People, Chatwin, 43, who starred in what turned out to be Hayden's final movie, Sleepwalker, recalled his experience collaborating with her and also got candid about her struggles in life.

As per People, Hayden Panettiere, who was just 36, first came across Justin Chatwin during the production of Tim Kring's NBC TV series Heroes. While they once again got the opportunity to reconnect while filming her last film, Sleepwalker, Chatwin mentioned that Hayden did share a bunch of personal things with him, including her struggle with addiction. Justin Chatwin said:

"We hit it off great and it was an awesome shoot, but it was about domestic abuse and it was subject matter that may have hit close to home, because she did mention it. She opened up to me about a lot of things."

According to People, when Hayden was dealing with her addiction issue and going through postpartum depression in 2018, she granted complete custody of her daughter, Kaya, to her former romantic partner, Wladimir Klitschko, who is a Ukrainian boxer. However, Justin went ahead and said:

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"Hayden seemed different when I met her this time than when I met her in the early years. I’ve been sober for 15 years, so I know this world of addiction, and Hollywood — it takes, and it takes from youth."

Hayden Panettiere also had traumatic experiences as a teenager and later dealt with substance and alcohol abuse. Chatwin shared that while working with her on her last film, he understood she was going through a tough time and struggling with loneliness. Chatwin added:

"I could tell she was struggling, and I was like, ‘I don’t think it’s this movie.’ There’s a handful of women that I’ve worked with that I really liked, and I really loved working with her, but I also know that she was really lonely."

Justin Chatwin shares that Hayden Panettiere opened up about going to rehab

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Chatwin, during his recent conversation with People, talked about how the I Love You, Beth Cooper star, Hayden Panettiere, got candid about her experience in rehab and opened up about struggling with her past traumas. Chatwin noted:

"I'm sure that everyone else is going to say ‘Oh, she’s amazing. She’s such a sweet person on set,’ because she was."

He continued:

"But we’re trained to be actors, so we’re acting on set, you know? And she is sweet. She had a beautiful heart. But we’re trained to be on, and I really liked spending time with her because she took that off, and she was authentic with me about her life and she opened up about her struggles with addiction. And who knows where it comes from? Does it come from Hollywood? Does it come from home? And a lot of times, it’s both."

While speaking about Hayden's addiction problem, Chatwin added:

"I felt sad this morning, but I feel angry. Because I want to point a finger at something for this, and it keeps happening. She was delightful and super open and we had a great time together and I’m just saddened that another one got taken down. It’s not the first, you know, and it’s yearly, dude, and it’s like no one’s really addressing it."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”