Disney fans remember beloved film after Hayden Panettiere dies a year on from co-star

Annabel Nugent Mon, August 17, 2026 at 3:25 PM UTC

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In 2005, Hayden Panettiere and Michelle Trachtenberg glided onto the big screen as two teenage figure skaters in the Disney film Ice Princess.

More than two decades later, following news of Panettiere’s death, fans of the much-loved film are mourning the loss of the two stars at its heart.

Panettiere has died at the age of 36, her father announced in a statement on Monday (17 August) with a cause of death yet to be announced. Only a year ago, her co-star Trachtenberg died in February 2025 from natural complications of diabetes at the age of 39.

“Both Ice Princesses are gone,” wrote one fan on social media, with dozens of others also grieving their deaths. “Neither making it to 40 is nuts. My goodness,” said another.

Panettiere and Trachtenberg were 16 and 20 respectively when they starred in the charming coming-of-age film written by The Princess Diaries’ Meg Cabot and Hadley Davis.

In it, Trachtenberg played shy and sweet Casey, the school brainiac with her sights set on Harvard. Hoping to land a scholarship to her dream school, she develops a computer program that analyses the moves of figure skaters to suggest improvements based on physics.

Testing her programme at the local ice rink, she finds that it works not only on figure skaters, but also on herself as Casey uncovers a secret talent and love for the sport – much to the horror of her intellectual mother (Joan Cusack).

Panettiere, meanwhile, played popular girl Gen, a long-time figure skater under the intense tutelage of her mother, a former Olympic contender played by Kim Cattrall.

Hayden Panettiere in 2005 film 'Ice Princess (Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)

The film initially sets the girls up to be fierce rivals, but what unfolds instead is an uplifting story of friendship as they help one another achieve their dreams.

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Twenty-one years on, Ice Princess has become a nostalgic comfort watch for many who first saw it on Disney Channel growing up.

Panettiere had a number of iconic scenes, such as Gen’s salad order – “Just iceberg lettuce. Half a cup of garbanzos, and a lemon wedge. Oh, and a quarter cup of cheese!” – and her graceful skate performance to The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.

The film was also relatively well-reviewed, and even managed to impress the late legendary film critic Roger Ebert, who said Ice Princess “outskates its genre” by way of “convincing” acting and complex writing that allows its characters to grow past stereotypes.

Speaking about her time shooting the movie, Panettiere – who had a background in gymnastics – said she embraced the challenge of learning to skate so that she could perform many of her own stunts on screen.

Hayden Panettiere and Michelle Trachtenberg in 2011 (Getty Images)

Announcing his daughter’s death on 17 August, Skip Panettiere said: “She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her and to the millions who watched her on-screen.”

Panettiere got her start in the industry at just four years old when she was cast on the popular US soap opera One Life to Live. She appeared in shows such as Ally McBeal and Malcolm in the Middle, going on to star opposite Kate Hudson in the 2004 film Raising Helen, and Solange Knowles in the 2006 cheerleading sequel Bring It On: All or Nothing.

Her big break came when she was cast as another cheerleader, this time with superpowers, in the hit sci-fi series Heroes, which came to an end 2010 after two seasons.

It was Panettiere’s role as country singer Juliette Barnes in the TV drama Nashville that earned her two Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and 11 entries on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The series ran for six seasons between 2012 and 2018.

Most recently, she starred in the Scream franchise, and wrote a memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”