Hayden Panettiere Was ‘Astounding,’ Says ‘Guiding Light’ Mom Beth Chamberlin (Exclusive)

After the tragic news of Hayden Panettiere’s death at 36, “Extra” spoke to Beth Chamberlin, who played her mother on the CBS soap “Guiding Light” for three years.

Beth called Hayden “the best child actress to ever walk on a stage,” saying, “What she could do as a child, the emotional range that she had, her ability to change on a dime. All of that was so impressive.”

Panettiere played Lizzie Spaulding on the soap opera from 1996-2000.

Beth praised Hayden for her acting, saying, “This is between the ages of 8 and 11… She’d be in 20, 30, 40 pages in a day, and I never saw this child once forget a line, forget her blocking, or lose her place emotionally… It was astounding.”

Panettiere was very early in her career, but Chamberlain recalled, "What I always like to say about Hayden is, watching her step on a set... it was like watching a fish be put in water. All her lights came on... She was just meant to be a star and she was meant to be an actor."

Beth remembered their time on set, saying, “Hayden used to come to my dressing room during lunchtime and have her lunch in there. She’d bring coloring books in.”

She also shared of Hayden, "She was so well-mannered. When she would come into my dressing room, I would remember her saying, 'Do you mind if I sit here? Is this okay?'... She was just, she was absolutely extraordinary."

Chamberlin felt “blessed” to work with Panettiere, saying, “We really did some amazing work together simply because the writers wrote what they wrote for her.”

“They wrote these amazing stories for her because she could do it… She was that capable,” Beth emphasized.

Beth and Hayden “sort of kept in touch” over the years and last saw each other at a somber occasion. 

Beth shared, “Unfortunately, the last time that I saw Hayden was at her brother’s funeral... Understandably, she was absolutely devastated."

Chamberlin also weighed in on Panettiere’s memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” in which she opened up about her struggles with alcoholism, addiction, and postpartum depression.

Beth said, “This is a tough business. I think part of the reason that it probably was so tough for Hayden, too, is because of her talent, because of her ability to access her emotional life. I think that's why it was — why she was so brilliant is why it was also so tough for her."

Chamberlain acknowledged how difficult it must have been for Hayden to be living a public life during her 20s.

She added, “It’s not easy to live those years in your 20s, where you’re trying to really figure out who you are, and she had paparazzi chasing her. So, to be under a microscope like that, I certainly think that most of us wouldn’t want to be living under that in our early 20s as we’re making mistakes and what have you."