Ethan Suplee Says He ‘Believed’ He Wouldn’t Wake Up After Heroin Use at 'Remember the Titans' Premiere

Ethan Suplee really thought he wouldn't wake up after heroin use at Remember the Titans premiere.

In his tribute note for Hayden Panettiere, published on his Substack, "I didn’t die of an accidental overdose that night. But I went to bed believing I wouldn’t wake up, and that didn’t seem so bad. Better than whatever a new day offered."

Turns out that day was relatively uneventful for him. Suplee shared several things that went wrong at the film's premiere, with Panettiere being one of the only people who made him feel better.

Recalling the night, he wrote, "September 23, 2000, was the night of the Remember the Titans premiere at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. On the red carpet, Hayden Panettiere, the ten-year-old girl from the movie, ran up to me, leapt into my arms, and gave me a big hug."

He continued, "Holding her I was lighter, some of her energy and innocence washed over me, and for a moment my smile was genuine."

"I saw Hayden one last time, as we made our way out of the stadium. Once again, she leapt into my arms, and once again I felt some relief," he added.

Suplee went on, "I went from the press line to the bathroom and smoked heroin."

That day, he had gotten late for the cast meetup with "our real-life counterparts." Sharing his experience of meeting the real Louis Lastik, he said, "He wasn’t fat. Not like I was. I imagined his disappointment at seeing who they’d gotten to play him. So I went back to the bathroom and smoked heroin."

Then all the actors were supposed to take laps around the stadium in golf carts with their characters' real-life counterparts.

The actor continued, "When I sat on our cart, it broke, I crushed one of the rear wheels. The other carts rolled off, and while they wrangled a new one for Louis and me, the cavalcade disappeared. We made a much slower lap, way off the back... While the movie played, I sat in the bathroom, cried, and smoked heroin."

Recalling the loss of Harold Pruitt in 2002, Suplee added, "Hayden Panettiere died of an accidental overdose last night."

"I feel a tremendous sense of loss today, I don’t know what they were going through at the end. I only know that for them, the battle is over. And I’m sad," he wrote, adding, "The miracle of my life wasn't just asking for help, it was finding the courage to accept it. Something that seemed impossible."

While initial reports indicate Panettiere suffered an apparent overdose leading to cardiac arrest, her official cause and manner of death remain pending. She passed away at age 36 on August 16, 2026, in Greenville, South Carolina.