Anna Paquin and Melissa Gilbert call out Hollywood after Hayden Panettiere’s death: ‘NOT A COINCIDENCE’

'Where is our Union in all of this? Where is the collective outrage? Where are the regulations? Where is the protection of privacy?'

Published Aug 24, 2026  •  3 minute read

Anna Paquin attends the world premiere of 'A Bit Of Light' at the Curzon, Soho in London, England. Melissa Gilbert, wife of director and actor Timothy Busfield, looks on after Busfield was granted a pre-trial release by Judge David A. Murphy during a hearing in the Second District Judicial Court at the Bernalillo County Courthouse on January 20, 2026 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack; Sam Wasson /Getty Images

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Anna Paquin and Melissa Gilbert are urging Hollywood to protect young actors following the deaths of Hayden Panettiere, Daveigh Chase and Michelle Trachtenberg.

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Panettiere had been a fixture in Hollywood for decades before she died on Aug. 16 at the age of 36.

Her cause of death is still unknown, but reports from her abusive ex-boyfriend and his brother, who were at the scene when she died, and details from a 911 call indicate she may have overdosed on drugs she had been taking for an undetermined amount of time.

What Anna had to say

“It’s not a coincidence that so many former, specifically pre-sexualized female, child ‘stars’ have profoundly sad lives and untimely ends,” Paquin wrote on Instagram Friday. “We were not as protected by the ‘systems’ that look great on paper, as we are supposed to be.

Paquin was 11 when she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar with her film debut in 1993’s The Piano.

“RIP HP, MT, DC and too many others,” the True Blood star continued, referring to Panettiere, Trachtenberg and Chase.

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L-R: Hayden Panettiere, Daveigh Chase and Michelle Trachtenberg (Jon Kopaloff; David Livingston; Joe Scarnici/Getty Images) Photo by Jon Kopaloff; David Livingston; Joe Scarnici /Getty Images

“It’s a strange small club we belong to and you are worthy of support no matter how our industry makes us feel,” Paquin added. “Literally DM me. I believe you and I will stand by your side. You aren’t alone. Let’s have each other’s backs. It might make public disclosure less terrifying.”

In another Instagram post, the Affair actress noted: “As an adult I’ve had the pleasure of working on productions where the welfare and mental health of young performers was handled incredibly carefully. Especially around material that was intense.”

She added: “It is possible to holistically look after the kids on set and tell complex and sometimes upsetting stories. It just has to be the top priority of the production.”

Melissa asks the hard questions

Gilbert shared her own lengthy post on Substack on Saturday, asking, “Why are these three sweet, wildly talented, vibrant, vital young women gone?”

The Little House on the Prairie star was just nine when she began playing Laura Ingalls Wilder in 1974.

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“I did not know Hayden personally and only worked briefly with Mishy and Daveigh. It feels personal because I was them,” Gilbert wrote.

“We are all members of the same tribe; Female Former Child Performers, and when one of us dies, it runs through all of us like an electrical current,” she continued. “When three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong.”

She added: “We all know the stories of how the entertainment industry uses, abuses, exploits and then throws away it’s youngest, but for some reason, this trend is getting worse.”

Gilbert, who served as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) from 2001 to 2005, asked: “Where is our Union in all of this? Where is the collective outrage? Where are the regulations? Where is the protection of privacy?”

She continued: “It really seems like no one cares enough to enact real change. At least, not until the next death and everyone talks about how sad they are and how we must do something and then they forget and get on with their lives until it happens again and again and again.”

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L-R: Hayden Panettiere, Daveigh Chase and Michelle Trachtenberg in their younger days. (Vince Bucci; Kevin Winter; Vince Bucci/Getty Images) Photo by Vince Bucci; Kevin Winter; Vince Bucci /Getty Images

Panettiere was just four when she got her big break on soap operas One Life to Live as Sarah Roberts, before heading to Guiding Light three years later, where she played Lizzie Spaulding.

She starred in Remember the Titans at the age of 10 and appeared on a number of TV shows and films, including Ally McBeal, Malcolm in the Middle and Ice Princess (the latter, coincidentally, with Trachtenberg) before she hit it big with Heroes, then Nashville.

Trachtenberg appeared in the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete as a child before starring in 1996’s Harriet the Spy and 1999’s Inspector Gadget. She also starred on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl and Mercy.

Chase was best known for playing Samara in The Ring and voicing Lilo in Lilo & Stitch, both in 2002, as well as Spirited Away in 2001. She also appeared on Big Love from 2006 to 2011.

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