Hayden Panettiere Reflects on Losing ‘Panic Room’ Role to Kristen Stewart in New Memoir

Hayden Panettiere recently shared a story about meeting Kristen Stewart for the first time and talking about the movie Panic Room.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Panettiere said she and Stewart discussed the casting change that happened more than 20 years ago. Panic Room was first planned with Nicole Kidman starring and Panettiere playing her daughter. After Kidman left the project and Jodie Foster joined the film, the daughter role was recast and went to Stewart instead.

Panettiere said Stewart already knew about the situation and was very kind when they talked about it. She said it was “sweet” that Stewart understood the history behind the role.

Panettiere also writes about losing the part in her new memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. She said every project in her career has led to other opportunities, and changing one moment could have changed her entire path.

Years later, Panettiere met Nicole Kidman again while working on the TV series Nashville. Kidman and her former husband Keith Urban were living in Nashville at the time. Panettiere joked that the couple hired her former personal assistant, but said they were both very nice. She also remembered seeing Kidman watching Urban perform live and said Kidman seemed relaxed and genuine.

Panettiere’s memoir will be released on May 19. In the book, she talks about her acting career, including projects like Remember the Titans and Nashville, as well as personal struggles involving depression, substance abuse, and domestic violence.

She said she once wondered if she was too young to write a memoir, but later realized she had experienced enough in life to share her story.