Hayden Panettiere Feels Connection with Amanda Knox After Playing Her in Movie

After playing murder suspect Amanda Knox in the Lifetime movie Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy, Hayden Panettiere feels a special connection to the newly-acquitted media sensation and wishes her the best.
“Having played her and in a way walked a mile in her shoes, I do feel a certain connection with her and I would be lying if I said it wasn’t exciting to see a young girl get a second chance at life so I hope she makes the most of that,” the 24-year-old actress told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column.Murder on Trial first aired on Lifetime on February 21, 2011, attracting 2.8 million viewers. Marcia Gay Harden and Vincent Riotta also star in the film.
Though Panettiere might feel a connection, Knox and her family don’t share the actress’s warm and fuzzy feelings. Amanda’s father, Curt Knox, blasted Murder in Italy, calling the movie “bulls**t” and a “clear breaking of the law.”
“The only reason I saw the movie was to write down all the irregularities, what was wrong with it, and provide it to our attorneys because it was – excuse my French – bulls**t,” Knox told TMZ. “There is a law in Italy that you cannot present information whether in book form or video form while there is an open trial. A clear breaking of the law there. The character portrayal of her in that movie was so wrong it could have potentially had an impact of the results and what people’s perspective of her is.”
According to TMZ, a lawsuit is pending in Italy to remove the controversial flick from Italian airwaves.
Knox, who hasn’t seen the made-for-TV movie, also sued Lifetime under the premise that the movie exploited her and contained several implausible scenes. According to Fox, Murder in Italy drew lots of criticism for its violent and sexual portrayal of Amanda Knox.
Source: Fox News, Photo: MyLifetime.com