“Just Heartbreak”: Connie Britton Mourns ‘Nashville’ Co-Star Hayden Panettiere

Following her breakout role as cheerleader Claire Bennett on NBC’s Heroes, Hayden Panettiere in 2012 was cast as the co-lead opposite Connie Britton in the ABC country music drama Nashville.

Following Panettiere’s passing at the age of 36, Britton posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram.

“This was Hayden. Bursting with brilliance, shining so bright,” Britton wrote next to carousel of photos from Nashville. “I have no words for this sad song. Just heartbreak. I love you girl. Sleep easy now. 💔”

Panettiere was actually the first of the two leads to be cast in the show, joined later by the Friday Night Lights star.

The series centered on 40-year-old Nashville superstar Rayna James (Britton) who is stunned to find that her star is fading and her label requires her to team up with teen sensation Juliette Barnes (Panettiere) on tour–or else face the loss of her own tour and the label’s promotion of her latest record, whose sales have been underwhelming.

It was the dynamic between Rayna and Juliette and the chemistry Britton and Panettiere that made Nashville a hit.

In later seasons, the show, which moved from ABC to CMT after four years, chronicled Juliette’s struggles with alcoholism, substance abuse and postpartum depression, all issues Panettiere had been dealing with in real life. She admitted in interviews that doing the storyline that mirrored her experiences was traumatizing.

Panettiere had a rocky tenure on Nashville. Her addition problems would spiral, impacting production. Meanwhile, she felt that the show did not have her back.

“It’s just shocking to me how little empathy people had,” she said of Nashville just a couple of months ago while promoting her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published this past May. “There were plenty of people who made the choice to not protect me.”

When it came to Britton, Panettiere always had nice things to say, calling her “amazing,” “so supportive” and “just a class act.”

“Just being able to be on screen with her, I was honored,” Panettiere told EW last year.