In the months before her death at age 36, actress Hayden Panettiere had spoken with unusual candor about the traumas that had shaped her life, from a childhood spent performing catastrophe on screen to her adult struggles with addiction, postpartum depression and an abusive relationship.

Panettiere, known for her roles in "Heroes" and "Nashville," was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, and was pronounced dead at the scene on Sunday, police said. A cause of death has not yet been established, but authorities said there were no signs of foul play.

Her death came just months after the publication of her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," a book in which she said she wanted to be "brutally honest" about "every aspect of my life, from childhood to now." Speaking to The Independent in May, Panettiere described the process of writing the book. "I had to learn not to be afraid of what people would think about it. Or if they would judge me," she said.

Panettiere began performing as an infant, when her mother, former soap opera actress Lesley Vogel, started bringing her to commercial auditions. She went on to voice Princess Dot in the 1998 Pixar film "A Bug's Life" and appeared in soap operas as a young child. In her memoir, Panettiere wrote about how the traumatic storylines she portrayed as a child actor shaped her early understanding of attention and love. "Grown-ups gave me positive attention when — as an actor — I failed, got sick, screamed and cried, killed, grieved, and suffered," she wrote. "Is it any wonder why I've faced so many real struggles in my life? I've often wondered whether — unintentionally — I've brought on my traumas because I'm wired to think they're good for me."

Panettiere achieved mainstream fame in 2006 for her role as a superpowered cheerleader on NBC's "Heroes," a breakthrough that prompted her entire family to relocate to Los Angeles. Speaking to Jay Shetty on his podcast "On Purpose," Panettiere described the strange dynamics that success brought to her family........

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