How Filming ‘Nashville’ While Battling Addiction Forced Hayden Panettiere to ‘Live Through It Twice’
Hayden Panettiere said that while filming Nashville, she struggled with addiction. When her character on the show started to deal with similar problems to her real-life ones, Panettiere said filming became brutal. Every day, she worked through the same things over and over again.
Hayden Panettiere spoke about the difficulties of filming ‘Nashville’
During the fourth season of Nashville, Panetierre said her character, Juliette, began dealing with addiction and postpartum depression. She was dealing with the same things in her real life.
“During the better part of season four, my personal problems were writing the script,” Panetierre wrote in her book This Is Me: A Reckoning. “Juliette Barnes had postpartum depression, an alcohol and pill problem, and a divorce on the horizon. She was erratic, an absentee mother, and fought with everyone — including her fans.”
She said it devastated her to see her problems reflected back at her like this.
“Every time I read the day’s script, it was like I was looking in a funhouse mirror, seeing a distorted reflection of myself,” she wrote. “I can’t tell you how lost this made me feel.”
This worsened her anxiety, as she had to relive the issues over again.
“I dove headfirst into my own hell,” she wrote. “I was suffering from debilitating anxiety and an addiction I couldn’t shake, and I had to live through it twice. First at home as Hayden, and then in front of millions, as Juliette.”
Panettiere got sober after a stay in a rehab facility.
Hayden Panettiere said she had an uncomfortable problem with a ‘Nashville’ co-star
Panettiere said that time on set was also uncomfortable because of her dynamic with her co-star, Connie Britton. Their characters on the show were rivals.
“My character wasn’t intended to be the show’s star — not even close,” Panettiere wrote. “That honor went to Connie, whose Rayna Jaymes was in the twilight of her career, facing a dramatic turning point thanks to yours truly. Juliette wasn’t necessarily Rayna’s enemy, but she was the antagonist. I threatened Rayna’s career, but I was never supposed to outshine her. That was the whole point.”
Panettiere was a rising star, and she received a lot of attention after the show came out.
“Rayna Jaymes had earned her stripes, and Juliette hadn’t. That was the way it was supposed to be,” she adds. “Unfortunately, after the pilot, it was clear that my billing had gone way up. I went from maybe number five in terms of importance to nipping at Connie’s heels. I was deeply uncomfortable with this development.”
She didn’t want Britton to feel as though she was trying to undercut her.
“I was twenty-three years old, and Connie was in her forties with three Emmy nominations under her belt,” Panettiere wrote. “She was also a new mom. This should have been her time to shine, and while it was in many respects, I was terrified of making Connie worry that I — not my character — was trying to compete with her.”
She said that they shot promo material that had them reaching for a microphone at the same time. Panettiere always let Britton grab over her hand to show she “came in peace and with respect.”
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
