“I was shocked that he used his tongue!”

Hayden Panettiere recalls first onscreen makeout at 13 — with ‘20-something-year-old guy’ in Raising Helen

"I was shocked that he used his tongue!"

By Sarah Hearon

May 25, 2026 8:30 a.m. ET

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Hayden Panettiere and Michael Esparza on 'Raising Helen'. Credit:

Everett; Randall Michelson/WireImage

- While reflecting on her various film projects, Hayden Panettiere shares memories from the 2004 movie *Raising Helen* with EW.

- The actress had her "first makeout" scene on the project with a man she thinks was at least seven years older than her.

- "I was shocked that he used his tongue!" she says. "I couldn't believe it, and I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

Hayden Panettiere still has more stories to tell.

Ahead of the release of her headline-making memoir, ** spoke to the 36-year-old actress about the book and her career, including memories from the 2004 movie *Raising Helen. *

“Garry Marshall — an amazing man, the director who's no longer with us — he was just such an incredible person to work with,” Panettiere said.

When asked if being a mother of 11-year-old daughter Kaya changed the way she watches the film, which follows Kate Hudson’s Helen stepping in to raise her nieces and nephews, including Panettiere’s Aubrey, she admitted that she hasn’t seen the project in years.

“I don't tend to go back and rewatch things that I do. You're lucky if I sit through the premiere of it and I don't run off and hide in the bathroom stall, which has happened before,” she explained to EW. “I don't want to nitpick them. I have amazing memories of what it was like being on set and being a part of the creation of it, which was much more important.”

Panettiere was 13 at the time of production, playing a 15-year-old.

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“Can you believe I was 13 in that movie? At certain points, they had me dressed up like you would've thought [I was way older],” she said. “I look back at pictures, people tell me how young I look now, but it's crazy because when I was 13, I almost looked like I was a teenager — the tummy out, the smokey eyes.”

Panettiere recalled “the first makeout ever in my life was on *Raising Helen,*” seemingly with bad boy BZ played by Michael Esparza.

“My mom [was] watching me with a 20-something-year-old guy while I was 13. I was shocked that he used his tongue! I couldn't believe it, and I didn't want to make a big deal out of it,” she told EW with a laugh. “I was like, ‘Oh, that's how it's done. Got it.’ I've got a lot of very great memories, funny memories from that, for sure.”

Hayden Panettiere details recent conversation with Kristen Stewart about 'Panic Room' recasting

Hayden Panettiere is 'terrified' for people to read her new book, reveals hardest story to tell

While Panettiere’s book, *This Is Me: A Reckoning*, includes stories from various projects like *Remember the Titans, Heroes, *and* Nashville**, *she noted, “If I had told every single solitary story, the book would be five 300-page books.”

She also dives deep into her personal life, including her abusive relationship with ex Brian Hickerson.

“I really hope that by reading about the trials and tribulations that I've gone through, that it can help [readers] overcome their own obstacles and make sure that they know that they're not alone, because that's the worst feeling in the world — especially when you're going through a trying time — is to feel alone,” Panettiere told EW. “All you want to know is that somebody else has gone through and survived what you're going through right now, and even though in the moment it feels like you'll never be okay again. But I also hope people laugh through it as well. I think there's a good balance.”

*This Is Me: A Reckoning* is available wherever books are sold.

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