Anna Paquin Speaks Out About Hollywood’s Treatment of Young Stars

Anna Paquin is speaking out about the lasting impact of growing up in Hollywood following the death of actress Hayden Panettiere at 36.

Paquin, who became an Oscar winner at just 11 years old, shared a statement on Instagram Friday mourning Panettiere and other former child stars while raising concerns about how young actresses are treated in the entertainment industry.

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

The actress, who appeared with Panettiere in Scream 4, also remembered Michelle Trachtenberg, who died at 39 in February 2025, and Daveigh Chase, who died at 35 in June.

“RIP HP, MT, DC and too many others,” Paquin wrote. “It’s a strange small club we belong to and you are worthy of support no matter how our industry makes us feel.”

Paquin ended her message by offering support to other former child performers who may be struggling.

“Literally DM me. I believe you and I will stand by your side,” she wrote. “You aren’t alone. Let’s have each other’s backs. It might make public disclosure less terrifying.”

Her comments came shortly after Rose McGowan, who appeared in the original Scream and began working as a child model, also addressed Panettiere’s death.

“Don’t put kids in show business. None of this is normal,” McGowan wrote on Instagram.

The concerns were echoed earlier in the week by actress Christy Carlson Romano, who wrote an essay for Elle comparing the effects of childhood fame to the repeated physical impact associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

Romano argued that young performers face pressures that can have lasting effects, including constant public attention, rejection, adult expectations and the loss of privacy.

“We put youth athletes in helmets and pads. We invented entire sciences around protecting them from long-term damage. Why can’t we pad the children paid to make the world smile?” she wrote.

Romano also reflected on her own daughter and said she wants children to grow up without being treated as products for public consumption.

Her comments came as renewed attention focused on Panettiere’s own experiences with fame. In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere described the difficulties she faced as a teenager in the public eye.

She wrote that she struggled with body dysmorphia after seeing a headline about her cellulite when she was still young. She also recalled being given what she called a “happy pill” by a former publicist at age 16, describing it as a turning point that contributed to her later struggles with addiction.

For Paquin and other former child performers, Panettiere’s death has become an opportunity to question whether the entertainment industry does enough to protect children who enter it at a young age.

Their message is not simply about fame itself, but about what can happen when children are placed under intense scrutiny and expected to navigate an adult industry before they have had the chance to fully grow up.