Of all her myriad acting roles, it’s arguable that “Heroes” was both the best-remembered and most important for Hayden Panettiere .
Given that the show’s slogan was “Save the Cheerleader” — and she played that cheerleader — the teenage actor was catapulted to stardom courtesy of the hit NBC series.
Now, that series’ creator is paying tribute to the late actress, who tragically passed away on Sunday, August 16 at the age of 36.
A ‘Seasoned Professional’ at 16
“Heroes” creator Tim Kring wrote a tribute to Panettiere for Variety, in which he recalls Panettiere being “a seasoned professional” when she auditioned for the show at age 16.
“But unlike many actors who start working as kids, Hayden had no sense of jaded child actor quality to her. Although confident in her abilities, she was still guileless, sweet and always open to suggestions. It was a fait accompli that she would embody the role of Claire Bennet, aka the Cheerleader, from the moment we met her,” Kring wrote.
‘A True Team Player’
Continuing, Kring remembers Panettiere as “a true team player, which was important for a show with a large ensemble cast. She was levelheaded beyond her years as a person and singularly talented as an actor, with an almost savant-like quality about her work. It wasn’t just that Hayden could learn lines with ease — it was her rare ability to find and explore the nuances of drama and humor and pathos in any scene she was in.
“Looking back, her performance in ‘Heroes’ was amazing. She was playing her actual age, which made for kind of a meta quality to the role because she had to understand her own teenage emotions in order to access them,” he wrote.
“Most 16-year-olds don’t know how to interpret or articulate these emotions, let alone embody them. But she had a deep understanding of human nature that belied her age. As a result, she could find moments within a scene that always made it deeper, or funnier, or more powerful than it was on the page. As a writer, you yearn for a relationship with an actor who elevates everything that you write and finds hidden nuances that you didn’t realize were there. That happened very, very often with her,” Kring stated.
“I remember vividly that if a scene called for Hayden to cry, we would all marvel at how she could cry with intensity for 12 takes in a row. When the director yelled ‘Cut,’ she’d go back to texting her friends or laughing with her castmates right up until the moment the director called ‘Action’ for the next take. Then out would come the waterworks again,” he recalled.
The ‘Breakout Star’ of ‘Heroes’
“She was a delight to work with, professional, joyful and willing to go out on a limb and experiment with a scene. She had this bull-in-a-china-shop quality — a determination that really influenced how we wrote her character,” added Kring, noting that over time the line between actor and character became blurred as the show’s writers learned to write to her specific voice.
“’Heroes’ was a success from the start, and there was no question that Hayden was a breakout star,” Kring observed.
“Yet she always understood the ensemble nature of the show and had a genuine sense of gratefulness for everyone involved. I think she just liked being a part of the ensemble. She enjoyed her sudden success but never seemed enamored with it. She wanted to represent the show itself. And the cast members were very protective of her too. We all understood that she was a unique talent, and we felt the responsibility to caretake that talent for the short time we had with her on the show.”
One Last Memory
As Kring pointed out, he lost touch with Panettiere after “Heroes” ended its run in 2010. He recalled contacting her agent, years later, to inquire about her availability on another project. That led her to call him up, “and teasingly admonished me. ‘You don’t have to call my agent. Don’t be Hollywood about it. Just pick up the phone and call me,’ she insisted.”
He concluded by writing, “As a showrunner, I have come to appreciate how rare it is to cross paths with a talent like Hayden’s. But more importantly, I will remember her as a kind and gentle person who was always a joy and an inspiration to work with.”
