Panettiere began modeling at the age of four months. She then began appearing in commercials at 11 months, first appearing in an advertisement for Playskool. She landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live (1994-1997) and later as Lizzie Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light when she was seven years old (1996-2000). While on Guiding Light, Panettiere's character Lizzie battled leukemia. The show received a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for bringing national awareness of the disease to the attention of daytime viewers.
