Hayden Panettiere Stars as Amanda Knox in New Lifetime Movie

StayTuned Staff

15 years ago

Based on the true story of an exciting study abroad opportunity gone horribly awry, this new Lifetime original movie takes a multiple-perspective look at the stunning events of how Amanda Knox allegedly murdered her college roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007 with her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and friend Rudy Guede. Referred to as “Foxy Knoxy” by her Italian prosecutor Guiliani Mignini and the press, Knox was painted as an oversexed remorseless killer during her two-year trial leading up to her conviction and subsequent sentencing to 26 years in jail.

Hayden Panettiere stars as the now-infamous Seattle exchange student. While filming in Italy, the 21-year-old former Heroes star decided not to meet Knox, and reserved judgment about the girl’s innocence or guilt. Was Amanda really “Foxy Knoxy” as the prosecutor claimed? Or was she an innocent American being railroaded by an Italian D.A. under indictment for prosecutorial misconduct?

“My job was to play a girl who, regardless of what happened, was innocent in who she was. … She was a young girl who had dreams and aspirations and was going to Italy to go to school and to broaden her horizons and have experiences and meet new people. And I don’t think that guilty or innocent takes away from that,” explains Panettiere. “Whatever it was that happened that night, four people’s lives were ruined.”

Like its star, the film leaves that conclusion open to interpretation. “It really all comes together to form this incredible story that I think people are really genuinely interested and curious in. And I don’t know that we’ll ever really know,” says Panettiere.

Marcia Gay Harden also stars as Edda Mellas, Amanda’s mother.

Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy airs Monday, 2/21 at 9pm on Lifetime.

Immediately following the premiere is an hour-long documentary, Beyond the Headlines: Amanda Knox, that will look inside the Italian legal system.

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