How To Watch Hayden Panettiere Movies and TV Shows on Streaming: ‘Nashville,’ ‘Heroes,’ ‘Scream 4,’ and More
New York Post · RC · trust 49/100
@ rockmarooned Published Aug. 17, 2026, 12:35 p.m. ET Photo: Everett Collection, Falon Wriede See more of our coverage in your search results.
Earlier this year, Panettiere released This Is Me: A Reckoning , a memoir where she opened up about her struggles with industry abuses, sobriety, and other darker aspects of her stardom. Though she was only 36, Panettiere had been working in Hollywood for essentially her entire life, and as such, leaves behind a large body of work, including over 100 TV episodes. Co-stars from Panettiere’s past projects, including Viola Davis, David Arquette, and Melissa Barrera, shared memories and grief on social media. Many fans will likely want to revisit some of these shows and movies in the wake of her passing, in tribute to her talent.
Panettiere’s biggest brush of fame came from Heroes , the NBC superhero series where she played Claire, a teenage cheerleader with Wolverine-like indestructibility. She followed that series with a long run playing country singer Juliette Barnes on ABC’s Nashville , a role that allowed her to show off her singing chops. Netflix is currently streaming both series, though they’re also available from lower-cost services as well. Those two series alone would be enough to make her a major TV star, but she also managed to create a fan-favorite character in a beloved slasher franchise and star in a bunch of family films.
Below, we’ve gathered a chronological look at some of Panettiere’s best and best-known work, with information about where you can stream it.
One of Panettiere’s first big-screen roles was in a widely seen box office smash, though even some fans may not realize that it was her: She plays the adorable Princess Dot, the younger sister of Princes Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), in Pixar’s delightful animated comedy A Bug’s Life . (Both Dot and Atta are ants.) Recording her part somewhere around the age of eight, Panettiere has a mix of child-actor professionalism and natural sweetness that somehow makes this cartoon ant feel like a real kid.
Sticking with Disney, Panettiere played the feisty daughter of high school football coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton), working under new head coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) in this heartwarming sports drama and period piece. As a pint-sized football enthusiast, she holds her own in several scenes opposite Washington.
One more Disney project before the dawn of Heroes : Alongside the similarly beloved and gone-too-soon star Michelle Trachtenberg , Panettiere plays a teenage ice skater in this wholesome sleepover classic.
Streaming on: Netflix , or free with ads on Tubi
This network-drama riff on the X-Men, with a group of variously superpowered characters coming together to save the world, was sold in large part on the charisma of a still-young Panettiere, who played a fast-healing high school cheerleader (hence the famous “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World” tagline used to advertise the show, as well as within the show’s story).
The show was a massive success at first, only to do a fast fade around its third season, and was canceled after its fourth. But it still produced 73 episodes (in today’s streaming environment, that’s the equivalent of, what, seven seasons?), and Panetierre is featured across the full run; her unofficial variation on the Wolverine character from Marvel Comics was largely recognized as one of the show’s most novel twists on familiar superhero material.
Heroes largely kept Panetierre busy while it was on the air, but she did score one prominent leading film role in this adaptation of Larry Doyle’s very funny coming-of-age novel about a high school nerd unexpectedly getting to spend some time with his dream girl, played by Panetierre. The movie itself is not nearly as funny as the book (it doesn’t help that the teenage lead is played by a guy pushing 30), but Panetierre is confident, charming, and even a bit nuanced as the stereotypical dream girl.
Scream 4 has the strange distinction of being the only movie in the series so far that wasn’t a substantial hit; it seemed to arrive a little too soon to work as a nostalgic legacy sequel but a little too late to capture the original-trilogy magic. That said, it’s become a fan favorite, and even those who don’t cherish it seem to agree that Panetierre’s Kirby Reed is a major highlight: a scrappy and stylish horror geek more instantly likable than just about anyone else in the cast.
For years, Kirby fans insisted that we didn’t actually see her die on screen, and that she could be back for later sequels; the fifth Scream , released in 2022, made reference to her being alive, and the filmmakers made good on that implicit promise by bringing her back as an FBI agent in Scream VI , the kind of revival that gives fan service a good name.
Panettiere’s second big primetime series wasn’t quite the same level of sensation as the early years of Heroes , but it proved a more consistent performer, both critically and in the ratings. (Its first four seasons in particular had enviably steady popularity for a network show of the late 2010s, before a premature cancellation sent the series over to CMT and Hulu for two more seasons.) It was arguably Panettiere’s strongest and most consistent showcase for her grown-up acting skills, not to mention her singing voice.
For more of Panettiere, fans can also check out her final film, the 2026 thriller Sleepwalker , available for rental and purchase .
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