Interview: Hayden Panettiere on ‘Amber Alert’
By the time Hayden Panettiere got the script for Amber Alert, she knew immediately this was a story that needed to be told. “I got lucky that it landed on my radar,” she shares. The film, directed by Kerry Bellessa, centers on an ordinary rideshare that turns into a pulse-pounding race against time when Panettiere’s character, Jaq, and Shane (Tyler James Williams) receive an Amber Alert about a missing child. Soon, they find themselves following a car that matches the description of the abductor’s vehicle, launching them into a tense chase to save a child’s life.
Panettiere says she was immediately taken by the script, which touched on what she perceived as an important cause in today’s day and age.“It was such a good read. Sometimes, scripts can be difficult, but this one, I flew through,” she revalls. “By the end of it, I felt so many emotions. A lot of them were about how I haven’t done my due diligence when it comes to Amber Alerts.” Ultimately, Panettiere saw the film as more than just an acting opportunity but a chance to educate herself and others about the dangers of child abduction. “I not only wanted to do this great film and work with Kerry, [producer] Summer [Bellessa], and Tyler, and play this badass character, but it also needed to be a PSA. It was a message and a story that needed to be told.”
As a mother herself, Panettiere says she felt an instant connection to Jaq’s trauma over losing a child to stillbirth. “I couldn’t imagine what that must have felt like,” she says. “Misguided as it is, Jaq blames herself. She believes she was responsible for the loss of this child that was growing inside her and that she wasn’t able to do her job. She makes it her mission to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” This compulsion is what pushes Jaq to try to save the abducted child, no matter what it may cost her. “She’s not going to go to bed tonight unless she knows for sure that she’s not in the back of that car.”
For Panettiere, Amber Alert also serves as a wake-up call about the importance of staying vigilant in real life. “We can turn off those alerts, and sometimes, they’re about weather, but a lot of them are Amber Alerts,” she says. “I’m a rescuer, just like Jaq, but even I was guilty of thinking the chances of me being the one to find a missing child were slim to none. This movie hopefully changes that. If I can get more people to turn that alert back on and, when they see it, even if they’re in a rush, just take a second to look around—it could make a real difference.”
Panettiere shares almost every minute of her screentime with co-star Tyler James Williams, who plays Shane, a rideshare driver who unwittingly finds himself caught up in the film’s events right alongside Jaq, and the two have chemistry in spades. Most of the film takes place in Shane’s car as he and Jaq attempt to determine whether or not the car they’re tailing is indeed the child abductor or not, and the actors are able to make those scenes as entertaining as possible thanks to their rapport. Panettiere and Williams were able to build that on-screen dynamic naturally, thanks to the production’s decision to shoot in sequence. “We were able to shoot this pretty much in chronological order,” she explains. “So my relationship with Tyler grew in a similar way as Jaq’s and his character’s did. You’re witnessing it and seeing it evolve in real time.”
Having worked on genre films before, including the Scream series, Panettiere has had her share of life-or-death scenarios on-screen. But in Amber Alert, the terror is grounded in reality, something that heightens the stakes for both the actors and the audience. “It’s a different kind of scary than Scream,” she explains. “It’s real life. You need to see what really truly happens to these children, what can happen to these children.”
On the topic of Scream, Panettiere reflects fondly on her time working with Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega on Scream VI, who she calls her “sisters.” “Those two are some badass chicks,” she says with a smile. “So talented, so kind. It was fun because I’ve always been the youngest one on set, and suddenly, I wasn’t anymore.” Watching the next generation of Scream stars in action was inspiring for Panettiere, who says she still maintains a relationship with them both. “They took their jobs so seriously but still managed to have fun, which can be rare. I became really close with both of them, especially Melissa. To this day, we still check in on each other. If one of us is going through something, she’s the first person to reach out, and I’m the first to check on her.”
In the end, Panettiere hopes Amber Alert not only captivates but also sparks a sense of responsibility in viewers. “If we could all just take a second to look around when we get those alerts, we could stop so many children from being abducted by predators,” she says. “We wanted this film to be a PSA, and if it changes just a few minds, it’s worth it.”
Amber Alert is now available on demand.
Ahmad W.
Aspiring critic and poster designer.