Hayden Panettiere has revealed the real reason why she was replaced by Kristen Stewart in the 2002 movie Panic Room.
The thriller, directed by David Fincher, was originally set to star Nicole Kidman, with Panettiere playing her daughter. However, Kidman was forced to drop out of the movie due to an injury, which threw the already-underway production into chaos, Panettiere wrote in her new memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
“It really felt like my entire future hinged on this film,” Panettiere, who was 12 at the time of filming, wrote in the book. “Then we got the call. Jodie Foster would be replacing Nicole Kidman in the part of Meg.”
At first, Panettiere said she was elated at the possibility of acting opposite the Silence of the Lambs star.
“I was overjoyed—even as happy as I’d been about Nicole Kidman,” she wrote. “Jodie Foster was one of my favorite actors, and I could relate to her because she’d been working since she was a kid, just like me. People had said we looked like each other because both of us were small and strong.
“She brought a quiet force that balanced out my ability to convey big, hard emotions. I told myself it was a great match, and I couldn’t wait to play her daughter.”
However, before Panettiere could return to Los Angeles to continue filming, she was informed that producers didn’t believe she resembled Foster closely enough to play her daughter.
Panettiere wrote: “I was speechless. I did look like Jodie Foster. Not just that, but I’d earned this part. How could anyone take that away from me?”
Her part was instead given to Stewart, who went on to become a household name for playing Bella Swan in the Twilight franchise.
“Once Nicole was gone, I was out, too. I never got an explanation as to why, and at the time, I accepted it, even though I was incredibly sad,” Panettiere wrote.
“I told myself that parts are like trains, and there will always be another one coming down the tracks. I tried to convince myself that this was meant to be—even though it tore me up.”
The truth eventually came to light long after the film’s premiere. “Years later, my former manager told me the real reason why I was dropped from the film,” she wrote. “The director spoke to Mom about cutting my hair so I would look more like Jodie Foster, who’s always rocked a great bob. Mom said no. It was a deal-breaker.”
This Is Me: A Reckoning is out now.
