In the months before her sudden death at 36, Hayden Panettiere was looking ahead.

The Heroes and Nashville star had spent much of 2026 speaking openly about her past while promoting her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. But despite everything she had endured, her message wasn’t simply about looking backward.

She believed another chapter of her life was beginning.

During a May interview with Jay Shetty, Panettiere described finally feeling as though she had moved beyond years of darkness and negativity.

She spoke enthusiastically about the possibilities ahead and said she felt she still had “a lot more life to live.”

After her death, those hopeful words have taken on an entirely different meaning.

Her Daughter Was Never Far From Her Thoughts

One of the most personal subjects Panettiere discussed during her final months was her daughter, Kaya, whom she shared with former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.

Panettiere had previously been remarkably open about experiencing postpartum depression following Kaya’s birth and about the painful circumstances that eventually resulted in her daughter primarily living with her father.

It was a chapter of her life that continued to carry enormous emotion.

But Panettiere made clear that physical distance did not mean she had stopped being part of Kaya’s life.

In interviews, she spoke proudly about the young girl her daughter was becoming and reflected on the difficult decisions she had made while trying to recover and rebuild her own life.

Her hope was that Kaya would eventually understand those choices and recognize the love behind them.

She Was Thinking About What Came Next

Motherhood wasn’t the only part of her future Panettiere was contemplating.

After spending most of her life in front of cameras, she was interested in expanding creatively.

She talked about writing and directing and about surrounding herself with positive people who could help her continue moving forward.

There was a sense in those interviews that Panettiere didn’t view her story as finished.

Quite the opposite.

After beginning her career when she was still a child, surviving the pressures of fame and experiencing extraordinary highs and painful lows, she appeared determined to decide for herself what the next stage would look like.

She Wanted Her Experiences to Help Others

Panettiere also hoped that speaking candidly about the hardest periods of her life could make a difference for other people.

At a May book event, she reflected on hearing from people who said her openness about mental health had helped them.

She said she hoped she could leave the world a better place than she found it.

That may ultimately be one of the most meaningful parts of the legacy she leaves behind.

For millions of viewers, Hayden Panettiere will always be Claire Bennet from Heroes, Juliette Barnes from Nashville, or the young actress they watched grow up on screen.

But her final interviews showed something more personal.

They showed a mother thinking about her daughter, a woman confronting a complicated past, and an actress who still believed there were new things waiting for her.

She was looking forward.

And that is what makes her words about having more life ahead of her especially difficult for fans to hear now.