Panettiere died on Sunday Aug. 16 at the age of 36
Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Frankie Muniz shared a heartfelt tribute to Hayden Panettiere following the news of her death at the age of 36 on Aug. 16
- Panettiere appeared in four episodes of Malcolm in the Middle as Jessica, Malcolm’s spirited babysitter and occasional love interest
- The actress had previously recalled how Bryan Cranston directed her episodes and gave her the role despite initially thinking she wasn’t the right fit
Frankie Muniz is paying tribute to his late Malcolm in the Middle costar, Hayden Panettiere.
Following her death on Aug. 16 at the age of 36, Muniz shared a tribute via Instagram the following day. Alongside a snap of himself and Panettiere, Muniz, 40, wrote, “Very sad to hear about Hayden. I got to work with her on many projects and always had an absolutely great time with her.”
He concluded, “I have so many amazing stories and memories with her. I hope she rests in peace.”
Credit: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett
Heroes actress Panettiere played the recurring guest role of Jessica in the Fox hit sitcom, starring alongside Muniz in the titular role. She appeared in four episodes between 2003 and 2005 as Malcolm’s occasional love interest Jessica, a spirited babysitter with bouncy blond curls to match.
Just last year, Panettiere looked back fondly on her time on the show, telling Entertainment Weekly that she “only got the role because Bryan Cranston was directing.”
“He looked at me and said, ‘You’re so wrong for this. But we’re going to make it work,’ ” she shared, adding, “That was the first time I had ever experienced someone really taking a chance on me.”
Cranston, 70, also had a connection to Panettiere’s family, having costarred with Hayden’s mom, Lesley Vogel, in the soap opera Loving in 1984.
Credit: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection
“My mom also played his wife in Loving … way back when,” the actress told the outlet, adding that Vogel and Cranston’s reunion was “really special.”
Panettiere — who had already appeared in seven films and several TV shows such as Guiding Light and One Life to Live by the time she was cast in Malcolm in the Middle — also revealed that she was drawn to the character of Jessica because she was “so different from the way I knew people saw me,” she said.
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“[It wasn’t] the normal role that you would see me in, but to play a completely out-of-the-box character was so much fun. I loved it, I love comedy, and I hope to do more comedy in my career,” she noted.
Panettiere’s family confirmed her death on Aug. 16, days before her 37th birthday.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Alan Panettiere, said in a statement to PEOPLE via her rep.
“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,” he added.
The Greenville Police Department previously confirmed to PEOPLE that officers and EMS personnel responded to reports of an “unresponsive female,” later identified as Panettiere, at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, at around 1:50 p.m. local time on Sunday.
According to dispatch audio obtained by PEOPLE, officials were heard discussing an “overdose” and “cardiac arrest” around the time of Panettiere’s death. A spokesperson for the Greenville Police Department said that a preliminary investigation had “not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances” in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
An official cause of death for the Nashville actress, who had been open about her struggles with addiction and the heartbreak of losing her younger brother Jansen, has not yet been released.
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