Anna Paquin says Hollywood failed young actresses as she mourns Hayden Panettiere

Anna Paquin has spoken out about the treatment of young performers in Hollywood following the death of fellow former child star Hayden Panettiere, raising fresh concerns about the protections available to children who enter the entertainment industry.

Paquin, who began acting as a child and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at 11 for The Piano, shared her thoughts on Instagram. Her comments came after Panettiere died at the age of 36 in South Carolina on August 16. Panettiere had also entered the entertainment industry as a child and later became widely known for Heroes, Nashville and the Scream franchise.

In her post, Paquin focused specifically on young female performers who were sexualised prematurely during their childhood careers. She argued that the difficult experiences of former child stars should prompt a closer examination of the systems intended to protect them.

Paquin wrote that many former female child stars have experienced deeply difficult lives and premature deaths, adding that young performers were not as protected by industry systems as they should have been. She also paid tribute to Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg and Daveigh Chase, three actresses who had found fame at young ages and died before reaching 40.

The actress also offered direct support to people who may have struggled with their experiences as child performers. Paquin described former child stars as belonging to a small and unusual group and encouraged those who had experienced harm to contact her privately. She said she believed them and would stand beside them, while stressing that they were not alone.

Paquin later clarified the focus of her comments, explaining that she was specifically discussing what can happen to children on film and television sets when they are treated prematurely as sexual objects. She also stressed that she was not suggesting harm occurs only within entertainment and indicated that the wider subject required a separate discussion.

Her follow up message also introduced an important qualification to her criticism. Paquin said that, as an adult, she had worked on productions where the welfare and mental health of young performers were handled with great care, including when children were involved in intense material. She argued that productions can tell complex stories while still making the wellbeing of young actors their highest priority.

Paquin's comments have received support from other performers who also worked as children. Former child actors and actresses including Melissa Gilbert, Mara Wilson, Shiri Appleby and Alyssa Milano responded positively to her statement. Gilbert separately called for change and greater protection for young performers following Panettiere's death.

Panettiere's death has intensified the conversation because of her own history as a child performer. She began working professionally at a young age and later became one of television's recognisable young stars through Heroes. Her struggles with addiction and other personal difficulties were publicly documented, including in her 2026 memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.

Authorities have said there were no signs of trauma or foul play in Panettiere's death, while her official cause of death remains under investigation. Emergency responders attempted to revive her, and reports have described a suspected overdose, but that has not been established as her final official cause of death.

Paquin's remarks therefore arrive during a wider reckoning over how the entertainment industry handles performers who enter the spotlight before adulthood. Her central argument is that safeguards need to exist in practice, with the welfare of young actors treated as a responsibility throughout production rather than as a concern addressed after problems emerge.