Hayden Panettiere actively tried to avoid DUIs and flashing photographers as a child actress. The Nashville star, now 26, recalled to Yahoo! Style about growing up in the spotlight.
“I grew up with the Lindsay Lohans and the Paris Hiltons,” Panettiere explained of the former stars, who seemed to hit their peak early in the 2000s. “I was in the same generation. I was expected to do the exact same thing. I was watched like a hawk to not fall into the same groove, and I fought against that for so long.”
Lohan, now 29, has been arrested multiple times and Hilton, 35, was sentenced to 45 days in jail after violating her probation in 2007. (The socialite’s sentence was later changed to 40 days of home confinement after serving three days.)
The Heroes alum was only 16 when she was cast in the TV drama and emerged onto the scene. Since her starring role, she’s been nominated for two Golden Globes for her role as Juliette Barnes on Nashville, and she welcomed her first child, Kaya, in December 2015 with fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.
Despite keeping herself out of trouble for years, Panettiere ended up in rehab in October 2015 — but not because she had spiraled out of control. The actress voluntarily checked into a treatment center while battling postpartum depression, her rep told Us Weekly at the time.
“I was always so terrified that people weren’t going to accept me,” she told Yahoo! Style. “I finally just went, I’m tired of living afraid. I’m tired of living in fear of what people are going to think, so, you know, I’m just going to put it all out there on the table and I’m not going to worry about the judgment.”
Now, she’s doing better. “The more open I was, the more acceptance I got from people,” she explained. “I got so much support and so much love. I was floored. I feel much more exposed, yes, but in a great way.”
