Panettiere, now 32, has been a fixture on television for more than a decade, starting in 2006 when she landed a breakout role on NBC’s “Heroes.” She followed that up with a role opposite Connie Britton in the country music drama Nashville, during which she calls “tough years” in a new interview with People.
“I can relate to a lot of these storylines like alcoholism and postpartum depression. They hit close to home,” she told the magazine.
In addition to her struggles with alcohol abuse, she said she would also take opiates.
“My saving grace is that I couldn’t be messy while I was on set and working,” she said. “But things kept spiraling out of control [off set]. And as I got older, drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”
At one point, she landed in the hospital and doctors said her liver was “going to fail.”
“I was in a cycle of self-destruction,” she told People.
After eight months in a rehab center and various other injuries and inpatient treatments, Panettiere, who shares a 7-year-old daughter with her former Ukrainian ex-pro boxer Wladimir Klitschko, is calm and hopeful for the future.
“I put a lot of work into myself and I had to be prepared to be incredibly honest,” she said.
She will soon reprise her role in a new film, Scream. Months ago, Panettiere also created a fund to help those fighting to defend Ukraine.
Klitschko’s brother, Vitaliy Klitschko, is the mayor of Kyiv.
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