United Kingdom, Sept. 22 -- Hayden Panettiere found Nashville to be a "different way of doing therapy".

The 36-year-old actress played troubled country singer Juliette Barnes in the drama series and she identified with a number of issues she had to tackle as her alter ego, including battling substance abuse and post-partum depression.

She told Entertainment Weekly: "It's definitely kept me more in tune with who I am and what's going on with me. It was kind of like a therapy session sometimes - we get to emote and we get to touch on those points that are topics that are really hard for us. It's kind of a different way of doing therapy.

"But it has served me well, and I'm proud of the characters that I have gotten the chance to play, and...