Anna Paquin has shared a tribute to Hayden Panettiere condemning the practice of child acting, following her death at the age of 36.
Panettiere died on 16 August at an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina. Before finding success as an adult in the TV series Heroes and Nashville, Panettiere had been a prolific child actor, with prominent roles in projects including Remember the Titans (2000), Ally McBeal (2002), Ice Princess (2005), and Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006).
Paquin is a former child actor herself: in 1993 she became the second-youngest actor to ever win an Oscar, at the age of 11, for her role in the intense romantic drama The Piano.
“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. “We were not as protected by the ‘systems’ that look great on paper as we are supposed to be.
She also alluded to Michelle Trachtenberg, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor and former child star who died last year at 39, and Daveigh Chase, the child star of Donnie Darko who died in June aged 35.
Paquin continued: “RIP [Hayden Panettiere], [Michelle Trachtenberg], [Daveigh Chase] and too many others. It’s a strange small club we belong to and you are worthy of support no matter how our industry made us feel. 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.”
Rose McGowan, meanwhile, also shared a message about Panettiere criticising the practice of employing children in show business.
“Rest in Power Hayden Panettiere,” she wrote on Instagram. “Don’t put kids in show business. None of this is normal. May her spirit be free of those who orchestrated.”
McGowan appeared in 1996’s Scream, years before Panettiere joined the franchise for Scream 4 (2011) and Scream VI (2023).
While the use of children in show business predates the invention of cinema, the practice has proven increasingly controversial down the years.
In the US, child acting is permitted under labour laws thanks to what is often referred to as the “Shirley Temple Act”, a measure introduced in 1938 during the Roosevelt administration when child labour was being outlawed in other professional sectors.
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