Hayden Panettiere, who began her career as a child actor and rose to prominence through Heroes and Nashville, has passed away at 36. Her representative confirmed the news in a statement to ABC News.

In a statement released to the media, Hayden’s father, Skip Panettiere said, “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.”

She entered the entertainment industry at a young age and built an extensive résumé across television, movies and voice work. One of her earliest notable film credits was voicing Princess Dot in Pixar’s A Bug’s Life. She later appeared in Remember the Titans, helping establish herself as a promising young actor.

Panettiere reached international fame in 2006 when she was cast as Claire Bennet in NBC’s superhero drama Heroes. Her character, a high school cheerleader with extraordinary regenerative abilities, became one of the show’s defining figures and made Panettiere a household name.

She followed Heroes with another major television role in Nashville, portraying aspiring country singer Juliette Barnes from 2012 to 2018. The part allowed her to showcase both her acting and singing abilities and earned her two Golden Globe nominations.

Her film career included appearances in Raising Helen, Ice Princess, I Love You, Beth Cooper, Scream 4 and Scream VI. She also continued working in voice acting and other screen projects throughout her career.

In recent years, Panettiere became increasingly open about her experiences growing up in the entertainment industry and the personal challenges she faced away from the spotlight. Her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published earlier this year, offered a candid look at her life, career and experiences in Hollywood.

Her death marks the loss of an actor whose career spanned more than three decades. As fans and fellow performers remember her work, further details surrounding her death remain unavailable.

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The wait is finally over. The trailer of Prithviraj Sukumaran’s much-anticipated action thriller Khalifa has been unveiled, offering a closer look at the sprawling world of gold smuggling, crime and revenge that Vysakh has created. Headlined by Prithviraj, the film also features Neil Nitin Mukesh in a prominent role, while an ensemble cast adds further weight to the ambitious project.

The trailer introduces Prithviraj as Aamir Ali, a man who finds himself deeply entrenched in a powerful gold smuggling network. What begins as a journey through an underworld populated by ruthless criminals gradually appears to evolve into a larger battle for power, survival and vengeance. The visuals suggest that the film will move across multiple territories and explore the reach of an international criminal operation.

Khalifa is being mounted as a two-part saga, with the first instalment titled Khalifa: The Intro and the second titled Khalifa: His Reign. The first part is scheduled to reach theatres on August 20, coinciding with the Onam weekend. The film has already generated considerable anticipation, particularly because it marks the reunion of Prithviraj and Vysakh after 15 years. The duo previously worked together on Pokkiri Raja, Vysakh’s directorial debut.

Aamir Ali’s rise through a dangerous underworld

The trailer provides glimpses of the forces surrounding Aamir Ali as he attempts to establish himself in a world where loyalty comes at a price and power is constantly contested. The story revolves around a gold smuggling empire with connections stretching beyond Kerala, setting the stage for a larger gangster drama with an international scale.

Neil Nitin Mukesh is among the key actors featured in the project, while the wider cast includes Mohanlal, Tovino Thomas, Krithi Shetty, Indrans and several other prominent performers. Mohanlal’s presence has been a major talking point around the film, with the veteran actor appearing as Mambarakkal Ahmed Ali, a character connected to Aamir Ali’s family legacy. Recent reports indicate that the first instalment will primarily introduce Mohanlal’s character, potentially setting up a larger role in the second part.

A high-octane Onam release

Khalifa reunites Vysakh with writer Jinu V Abraham, who is also one of the film’s producers alongside Suraj Kumar. The technical crew includes cinematographer Jomon T. John, editor Chaman Chacko and composer Jakes Bejoy, whose music is expected to play a significant role in shaping the film’s action-heavy world.

For Vysakh, Khalifa marks another ambitious addition to a filmography that includes action-driven entertainers such as Pokkiri Raja and Pulimurugan. The filmmaker has previously described the project as a major visual experience, while the scale of its production has been evident from the international locations used during filming.

Khalifa arrives at a busy phase in Prithviraj’s career. The actor was last seen in Nisam Basheer’s I, Nobody, alongside Parvathy Thiruvothu, and now moves into a considerably more action-oriented space with Vysakh’s film.

With its two-part structure, sprawling criminal world and an intriguing combination of Prithviraj, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Mohanlal, Khalifa is clearly positioning itself as one of Malayalam cinema’s major festive releases. The trailer suggests that The Intro will only begin to uncover the story of Aamir Ali and the empire surrounding him, leaving the larger question of his reign for the chapter that follows.

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