Hayden Panettiere once wrote in her memoir that working on 'Nashville' was like diving 'headfirst into my own hell'

Panettiere was open about her mental health struggles and addiction, as was her "Nashville" character, Juliette Barnes.

Mark Levine/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images Hayden Panettiere died on August 16, three months after publishing her memoir, "This Is Me." In it, she wrote about the writers on the show "Nashville" taking inspiration from her real-life experiences.

Her character, Juliette, struggled with postpartum depression and addiction, like Panettiere.

Hayden Panettiere once wrote that starring on "Nashville" and reading the show's script was like "looking in a funhouse mirror." In her 2026 memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," published three months before her August 16 death, Panettiere wrote that it felt like her "personal problems were writing the script," particularly during the show's fourth season, which aired from 2015 to 2016.

After publicly disclosing that she was entering a treatment facility for her postpartum depression and addiction issues in 2015, her character on "Nashville," country star Juliette Barnes, experienced similar challenges.

At the time, the actor had also been open about her strained relationship with her mother and about being on the verge of splitting with her then-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko .

The two, who share an 11-year-old daughter, eventually split in August 2018.

Panettiere during season four of "Nashville." Mark Levine/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images "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," Panettiere, who played Barnes on the show's six seasons from 2012 to 2018, wrote.

"Every time I read the day's script, it was like I was looking in a funhouse mirror, seeing a distorted version of myself.

I can't tell you how lost this made me feel," she continued.

"I didn't fall into another world that was distinct from my own.

I dove headfirst into my own hell." Panettiere added that she was suffering from "debilitating anxiety and an addiction I couldn't shake," and then had to live through it twice: "First at home as Hayden, and then in front of millions, as Juliette." "Something had to give, and I was afraid it was going to be me," she continued in the book.

Panettiere during a 2016 episode of "Nashville." Mark Levine/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images Business Insider reached out to ABC and didn't immediately hear back.