Hayden Panettiere had an estranged relationship with her mother, Lesley Vogel. Here's everything that led to their estrangement.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleHayden Panettiere was the most loved American actress, and her passing came as a shock to her fans. She first appeared on screen in a commercial in 1990, when she was 11 months old. By the age of four, Hayden landed the role of ‘Sarah Roberts’ on the soap opera One Life to Live. She went on to become popular with her roles in Heroes and Nashville. Behind her success was her mother, Lesley Vogel, who introduced her to showbiz at a very young age.
Hayden’s mother, Lesley Vogel, was a dominant figure in her life. Vogel was a former soap opera actress who took charge of her daughter’s career. Hayden was very good at delivering big emotions on camera, as she would weep, cry and scream on cue. However, she did all that just to please her mother, as her opinion mattered the most to the actress.
In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, Hayden wrote about her mother with great love and empathy. She felt sorry for her mother, who couldn’t achieve the fame she wished for and had to fulfil her dreams through her daughter. In her book, Hayden credited her mom for her success. However, in an effort to please her mother, Hayden stopped caring about her own feelings.
The major reason for the mother-daughter estrangement was the parent-manager dynamic. Since Lesley Vogel managed Hayden’s career from infancy until she turned 19, it became more of a professional relationship than a personal one. Hayden often felt their relationship was a business, and she was more of a boss to her than a parent.
At the age of 19, while filming Heroes, Hayden fired her mother, Lesley, in an attempt to normalise their relationship. Hayden begged her mom to be just her mother, not anything else. In an interview with The Independent, Hayden revealed her mom’s reaction and wrote:
“All I wanted was a dynamic that didn’t involve contracts, producers, boho tops, or drinking wine at industry parties. I said to her, ‘I don’t want us to work together anymore. I just want you to be my mom. She picked up her purse, clenched her jaw, and looked straight at me. ‘You owe me.”
Hayden knew she was right, but was very disturbed by her mom’s reaction. It was heartbreaking for her to know that ‘Having a normal relationship [with me] wasn’t something that interested her.’ But despite being estranged, Hayden hoped that she and her mom would reconcile one day.
A month after Hayden’s interview, Vogel released a series of statements to tabloids in which she condemned Hayden for inventing “drama to sell her books”. She also called out Hayden as “entitled” and “unempathetic”. After her mother’s claims, during a TV appearance, the actress reacted and said:
“Who doesn’t want a relationship with their mother? But she slammed that door pretty hard in my face.”
In her memoir, Hayden mentions her mom’s controlling attitude, deciding what role she should play and what to skip. The actress also revealed that she lost a pivotal role in David Fincher’s Panic Room just because her mom refused to cut her hair into a bob. The role eventually went to Kristen Stewart. Another incident which showed Vogel’s controlling nature was when she superglued Hayden’s broken baby tooth back to get her through an audition.
What do you think about Hayden Panettiere’s estranged relationship with her mom, Lesley Vogel?
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