Hayden Panettiere denied meeting with Amanda Knox

The actress is playing convicted killer Amanda Knox in an upcoming movie, but lawyers have denied her a meeting

‘Heroes’ star Hayden Panettiere has been denied her request to meet with Amanda Knox, who is currently serving a 26-year jail sentence in an Italian prison for the murder of Meredith Kercher.

The actress is playing Knox in an upcoming TV movie – The Amanda Knox Story – and had wanted to meet her before she begins filming later this month.

‘I wish [I could meet her],' says the 21-year-old actress. 'I know the Italian government is being pretty protective of her, her lawyers are being protective of her, which is pretty understandable. It’s something I would like to do [meet her] but I’d be more surprised if it happened than if it didn’t.’

Knox and her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were both convicted last year for the violent murder of 21 year-old Meredith Kercher. She was sentenced to 26 years in prison for slashing her friend's throat with a knife in 2007 during a violent night fuelled by sex and drugs.

The jailed American's attorneys have already objected to the film, insisting the story should not be ‘exploited’ for entertainment while an appeal is still pending, and they won't let Panettiere meet their client.

Knox's lawyer Carlo Della Vedova said: ‘There is no way that this actress can meet with Amanda while she is in jail. Amanda knows about the film because she read about it in the newspaper, but she is not in agreement with it and she is surprised.’

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