The actress’ final movie was a psychological thriller about a mother who has frightening visions after losing her daughter in a car accident

NEED TO KNOW

• Hayden Panettiere’s final film Sleepwalker was a psychological thriller shot in just 15 days
• The actress, who died on Aug. 16, opened up about the “challenging” emotional shoot months before her death
• Panettiere drew from personal experiences of guilt and loss to portray her intense role

Hayden Panettiere‘s final movie proved to be a challenging experience for the actress.

Panettiere, who was best known for her starring roles in Nashville and the Scream franchise, died at 36 years old on Aug. 16, just seven months after her last project, Sleepwalker, was released in theaters.

A representative for the actress confirmed the news to PEOPLE in a statement on behalf of her father, Alan Panettiere. “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” it read.

In the months before her death, Panettiere spoke about the physical and mental challenges of filming Sleepwalker, a psychological thriller about a mother who experiences frightening visions and struggles to differentiate between reality and her own mind in the wake of her daughter’s death in a fatal car crash.

Panettiere, who has been open about the difficult decision to give up full custody of her own daughter Kaya, shared in a January interview with Moviefone that “guilt and loss” are topics she’s “familiar with.” “So I had a lot to pull from from my real life,” she said.

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The movie, which was shot in 15 days, follows Panettiere’s character’s “descent into darkness,” as she described to Fox News in another interview.

“There’s some scenes that are really emotional with my daughter in the film,” she said. “The dialogue itself, and looking at her and being a mom myself, it made the emotions so readily available; it made my job really easy.”

Panettiere added that the greatest challenge was filming highly emotional scenes not only mentally, but physically. “Keeping that level of heightened emotions and staying in such a dark emotional place definitely is challenging and can be exhausting, but is ultimately rewarding for me,” she said.

In her interview with Moviefone, Panettiere added that though the movie was “very dark,” she was surrounded by people on set who could lift her up and break into laughter between takes to ease the heavy mood.

Sleepwalker also stars Mischa Barton, Justin Chatwin, and Beverly D’Angelo, the latter of whom plays Panettiere’s mother.

“Beverly D’Angelo and I became very, very close. We kept each other laughing and that chemistry just came like that,” she said, snapping her fingers. “It was just that easy and made my job incredibly fun. I couldn’t have asked for anybody better to play my mom.”

Following the news of her death, director Brandon Auman shared a sweet tribute to the star on Instagram alongside a carousel of behind-the-scenes images of Panettiere on set with the child actors from the cast.

“Horrible news. Completely devastated,” he wrote in the caption. “You taught me so much on set, and the personal stories you shared with me about growing up in the industry were often profound, surreal and amazing. Thank you for everything. I’ll miss you, Hayden.”

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