Hayden Panettiere Fans Have a Clear Answer To Which of The Late Actress’ Roles is Their Favorite

Fans were absolutely shocked by the tragic news that actress Hayden Panettiere passed away yesterday, Aug. 16, at the young age of 36. The star was known for myriad roles over the years—many years, in fact, as she had begun acting when she was a very young child. Among the most prominent roles that she had were Juliette Barnes in the musical drama series Nashville, which she starred in opposite Connie Britton, and Claire Bennett, the super powered teenage cheerleader in Heroes, NBC’s superhero sci-fi drama. She also starred as Kirby Reed in Scream 4, at which point she was a teenager and became the film’s final girl, and returned much more recently in 2023’s Scream VI.

While these were among her most well-known roles, though, Panettiere acted for decades and appeared in a range of major movies and TV shows, from little Sheryl Yoast in Remember the Titans and the voice of Princess Dot in Disney’s A Bug’s Life to the co-lead of Ice Princess alongside Michelle Trachtenberg, who has sadly also passed away, and so much more. With such an extensive filmography, it’s difficult to say what Panettiere’s ‘best’ role overall was. However, with our recent poll, fans have selected their favorite—and there’s a clear winner.

One Hayden Panettiere Role Stands Out Among the Rest

As many—fans, co-stars, and others in the entertainment industry alike—have taken to social media today to pay tribute to Hayden Panettiere’s life, legacy, and career, we wanted to add to the conversation by highlighting some of Panettiere’s best roles and getting a sense of which one resonated most with audiences. Although there are many that could have been chosen, the three that particularly stood out were Juliette Barnes, Claire Bennett, and Kirby Reed. However, we also left an option for “other” to account for Panettiere’s many brilliant roles. While each option received at least some votes, there was a very clear winner. Specifically, Heroes’ Claire Bennett received 52.4% of the votes.

Kirby Reed was in second with 27.8%, the “other” option received 16.6% of the votes, and Juliette Barnes came in at 3.2%. In terms of which other projects came to mind, some in the comments have shared why they voted that way, with one person writing, “It’s actually Remember the Titans,” with an image of young Panettiere as Sheryl Yoast. Another comment shared an image from Heroes, seemingly reinforcing a vote for Claire Bennett. Yet another comment said, “the final girl in Until Dawn,” a video game for which Panettiere did voice and motion capture. In fact, that was not Panettiere’s first video game, as she is also well known for her work as Kairi in Kingdom Hearts.

Clearly, Panettiere has had a number of meaningful roles over the years, and she consistently left a major impact on audiences. Her early death is truly heartbreaking, and reflecting on these roles just reinforces how much talent she had.