Hayden Panettiere Gets Candid About Why It Was 'Traumatizing' Filming ‘Nashville'

Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Panettiere is offering a candid glimpse into the trauma that comes along with playing a character experiencing a parallel life to her own.

The Scream alum opened up about working on Nashville in a new interview with The Messenger ahead of an intimate conversation series where she plans to speak openly with fans about her history of addiction—which she was in the throes of when she portrayed Juliette Barnes on the musical series.

While there were undeniably "great things about [her] personal life in Nashville," the years spent on set "were also very traumatizing because [she] felt like [she] was acting out [her] own life."

Panettiere became dependent on opioids and alcohol as a teenager, which followed her well into adulthood. Her troubled country star character soon followed in her footsteps, from her footballer boyfriend at the time to alcoholism to postpartum depression. "...It was very obvious … They weren't doing their homework," she told the publication. "They weren't creating new storylines. They were just looking at my life and going, 'Oh, let's just take what she's going through and put our little spin on it.' And then, ta-da! It's done and done."

Related: Hayden Panettiere Recalls Being Given a 'Happy Pill' on the Red Carpet at 16

Spending 12 to 20 hours on set each day reliving her own struggles, as you may expect, took quite a toll on her mental health.

"I didn't have time to take care of myself [and] to think about and go through the pain I was experiencing physically [and] emotionally. I just wanted to drum it out and watch mindless television and great shows," she remembered. "Anything to keep my mind off of that because I knew that next day I was going to be back at it again. I was like, tear central. I don't even think on a soap opera that I cried as much [as I did] on Nashville."

Next: 'Nashville' Star Hayden Panettiere Debuts Pink and Green Hair Transformation