Hayden Panettiere, voice of Kairi and Sam in Until Dawn, dies at 36

Hayden Panettiere, the actor who voiced Kairi in the first two Kingdom Hearts games and played Sam in Until Dawn, has died at the age of 36. Her father, Skip Panettiere, confirmed the news in a statement to ABC News. The cause of death has not been made public.

In his statement, Skip Panettiere wrote: "It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. 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 onscreen."

Panettiere's career stretched back to childhood, with early roles in Disney projects including A Bug's Life and Dinosaur. She became widely known to TV audiences through Heroes and Nashville, and spent over a decade in the Scream franchise, playing Kirby Reed across three films starting in 2011. For games players, she was the original voice of Kairi in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II — a role later taken over by Alyson Stoner. She also provided both voice and motion capture for Sam in the 2015 PS4 horror game Until Dawn, one of the defining interactive horror experiences of that generation.

Panettiere was 36 years old.