Hayden Panettiere’s complex life in the spotlight started as a child | CNN

Hayden Panettiere never knew life out of the spotlight. From her first gig as an infant in a Playskool toy train commercial, she took a path walked by many child stars before her, culminating in tragedy this week when the actress died at age 36 – an ending that is no less tragic because it feels eerily familiar. Panettiere began acting when she was 8 months old and never stopped, according to her memoir “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” published just three months before her death. At an early age, she wrote, she “lost the chance to have a ‘normal’ childhood,” which included having friends, relationships and privacy. But instead of fighting it, she wrote, “I leaned into the talent I was somehow blessed with.” She went on to helm hit shows like “Heroes” and “Nashville” and appear in several teen films, including the beloved horror franchise “Scream,” battling many personal struggles along the way, according to her own detailed accounts. Despite her openness about those trials, many still wonder, in the aftermath of her death, how yet another gifted actor who grew up in the limelight could have their story cut so short. Panettiere’s mother Lesley Vogel, a for