Charles Esten Remembers First Meeting With Hayden Panettiere in Touching Tribute

Charles Esten has paid tribute to his Nashville co-star Hayden Panettiere, recalling the moment they first met — when his audition room door bumped into her, because she had been listening with her ear pressed against it.

Panettiere died on Sunday, 16 August, at age 36 in Greenville, South Carolina. Authorities were discussing an apparent overdose and cardiac arrest in connection with her death, EW reported.

In an Instagram post on Monday, Esten recounted his first audition for the role of Deacon Claybourne, the guitarist and songwriter he would play for the show's entire run. The audition took place in a sound stage office in Hollywood, where he read two Deacon scenes and then pulled out his guitar to sing two songs, Deadline reported.

As he left the room, the door hit Panettiere, who had been eavesdropping from the other side. "That was so good!!" she told him — their very first exchange.

Panettiere had landed the role of country star Juliette Barnes weeks before Esten was cast, after many rounds of testing. Esten was a late addition to the pilot and the last series regular announced, in March 2012. When he arrived in Nashville to begin work, Panettiere walked up to him and said, "See you on the set!" — a greeting he carried through the show's six-season run on ABC and CMT.

Connie Britton, who played country legend Rayna Jayette opposite Panettiere's Juliette, posted her own remembrance earlier on Monday, sharing photos from the Nashville set. "I have no words for this sad song," Britton wrote. "Just heartbreak. I love you girl. Sleep easy now." Deadline

Tributes also came from Viola Davis, Selma Blair, and Kim Cattrall, AP News reported. Esten's tribute, posted on his official Instagram account, also referenced Panettiere's final movie, JustJared noted.

Nashville ran from 2012 to 2018, and the bond between Esten's Deacon and Panettiere's Juliette sat at the heart of the series — a veteran songwriter and a young pop-country star orbiting each other across six seasons of music, rivalry, and friendship.