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A filmmaker who worked with Hayden Panettiere on her 2025 horror-comedy, A Breed Apart, has claimed that the actress was “not OK” on set.
“I had met Hayden about 10 years before that and I knew that she was insanely talented, so when she signed on to do this picture that we were shooting, I was psyched,” director Griff Furst began in an Instagram video shared on Monday, August 17. “I really wanted to work with her. So I’m on set, and I get word from the movie’s security team who picked her up from the airport that something was off.”
Furst, 44, continued, “I didn’t think much about it, and so I left set and I walked over to greet her and her boyfriend Brian [Hickerson]. He opened the door. Hayden was incredibly sweet and gracious and excited to work, but she was not OK.”
Furst claimed that it was “pretty clear that she wasn’t OK and the energy in her room was pretty dark.”
Panettiere portrayed Hayden Hurst, a fictional Hollywood star, in the film. “There are definitely parts of me all over the character,” she told Yahoo Entertainment about her role last May, calling the experience “an amazing outlet to get out frustrations.”
Hayden died on Sunday, August 16, her dad, Skip Panettiere, later confirmed to Us. She was 36.
“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,” Skip said in a statement on Sunday. “We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
The Greenville Police Department and Greenville County Coroner’s Office confirmed that officers responded to reports of an “unresponsive female” at a South Carolina residence, later identified as Hayden, and a possible “drug overdose.” First responders and EMS performed “advanced cardiac life support measures,” but Hayden was pronounced dead on Sunday afternoon.
An autopsy found “no signs of trauma that would have contributed” to Hayden’s death, the coroner’s office confirmed to Us. The cause and manner of her death “remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies.”
An investigation is ongoing. Authorities noted that there have not been “any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.”
Three months before her death, Hayden published her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she detailed her journey as a child actress, her relationships and her battles with addiction and postpartum depression. (The Heroes alum shared daughter Kaya, 11, with ex Wladimir Klitschko.)
Furst said in his video on Monday that he “believed that [Panettiere] was getting better” after her book release.
“We even talked about doing another picture together recently, which is what makes this s*** news hit even harder,” he concluded. “I see all these tributes online about the light that Hayden was and she really was incredible, she was a force to be reckoned with, and when we did this movie, that was definitely still in there, but there was something else in there too that made it a lot harder to reach.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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