Hilary Duff Pays Tribute to Hayden Panettiere: ‘I So Deeply Wish This Wasn’t the End for You’

There’s been an outpouring of support from Hayden Panettiere’ s entertainment peers following the Heroes actress’ tragic death on Sunday (Aug.

16).

Hilary Duff paid tribute to Panettiere with a heartfelt post on social media on Tuesday (Aug.

18).

Duff, who starred in Disney’s Lizzie McGuire , struck up a friendship with Panettiere in the 2000s as the pair related to one another as Hollywood teen stars.

However, they lost touch over the years.

“Sweet Hayden.

Really tough hearing this news,” Duff began.

“We lost touch through the years but I will always remember you as so hardworking and effervescent, with that big, gorgeous smile.

I remember staying up late, chatting and gossiping, and connecting because we were part of such a small sliver of people who actually understood the strange lot in life we were navigating.. so young, with no real idea how to make sense of any of it.” She continued: “I so deeply wish this wasn’t the end for you.

Sending a heart full of love to your family, the many people you impacted and everyone who loved you. rest easy.” Duff is far from the only star to publicly commemorate Panettiere.

Tributes have poured in from SVU actress Mariska Hargitay, Solange, Rosie O’Donnell, Jeremy Piven, 7th Heaven actress Beverley Mitchell, actor Justin Chatwin (Panettiere’s co-star in her final movie, Sleepwalker ) and her ex-husband Wladimir Klitschko.

Panettiere passed away at 36 — just days shy of her 37th birthday — on Sunday.

She is survived by her father, Skip, estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, and daughter, Maya.