At the age of 36, the “Heroes” and “Nashville” star was found dead in her home, and tributes quickly poured in. As fans mourn the passing of Hayden Panetierre, it’s led to a look back on her career, and that’s meant the rediscovery of a couple of her movie titles.
One title in particular leaves an extra sad note. The 2005 movie “Ice Princess” starred not just Panetierre but also the late Michelle Trachtenberg, who passed away at the age of 39 due to complications from a liver transplant.
What Was ‘Ice Princess’ About?
GettyThe 2005 Disney movie followed Trachtenberg’s Casey Carlyle, who scores a Harvard scholarship and has a chance to pursue her dream career as a professional figure skater. As with any movie that focuses on such a prestigious dream, there are mean girls around, and there are those who feel the threat of someone taking their spot on the team.
The “mean girl” was Panetierre’s Gennifer “Gen” Harwood, who also happened to be the daughter of the head coach. Of course, the two started out as rivals, but as this is a Disney movie, there’s a friendly ending that offers hope, as well as a few life lessons.
Back in 2024, the “Scream” actress looked back at her roles with Access Hollywood, and she even said that “Ice Princess” was one of her favorite movies. She loved the role of Gen, and it offered a new life skill to learn. She didn’t know how to skate at the time of landing the role, and she shared, “by the end, I actually became really good.” She also loved working with Kim Cattrall, who played her mom in the movie, and Panetierre was happy to find out that they shared the same birthday.
There was a weight to the interview as well, as she looked back at “Remember the Titans,” asking everyone, “Who doesn’t want to be 10 again?” After years of struggling with her mental health, she commented about how “shiny” and “bright” the world was back at that young age.
Fans Share Their Memories of ‘Ice Princess’
GettyShortly after the news of Panetierre’s passing, fans took to social media to share their shock. One of the biggest shocks was that both actresses, who didn’t make it to the age of 40, starred in the same movie. In fact, one Reddit user commented about how they had just turned 40 and still felt like they have so much life left to live.
The comments started as one user shared: “The two Ice Princess girls are now gone 😭 RIP to both.”
Another followed with “I was just wanting to do a rewatch but now I think I’m gonna have to give it a few years,” while someone else had similar sentiments about a rewatch, but needed to do it right away, saying, “My immediate thought was that I need to watch this movie in their honor.”
For those looking to do a rewatch of all of the star’s works to remember her, “Ice Princess” is available to stream on Disney+. There is also still time to watch all six seasons of “Nashville,” which are still set to leave Netflix in September. Of course, “Heroes” is the one that most people remember Panetierre from, and that series is also available to stream on Netflix.
