Hayden Panettiere

Hayden's Gallery

Hayden Leslie Panettiere (born August 21, 1989) is an American actress and singer. Hayden plays the character Claire Bennet on the NBC television program Heroes. The advertising campaign and slogan for the program known as "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" has helped make Panettiere famous.

Panettiere began modeling at the age of five months. She then began appearing in commercials at 11 months, first appearing in an advertisement for Playskool. She landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live (1994- 1997) and later as Lizzie Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light when she was seven years old (1996 - 2000). While on Guiding Light, Panettiere's character Lizzie battled leukemia. The show received a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for bringing national awareness of the disease to the attention of daytime viewers.Panettiere appears as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes as a high school cheerleader with regenerative healing powers. Due to her role on Heroes, she became a regular on the science fiction convention circuit, invited to attend conventions around the world in 2007, including GenCon, New York Comic-Con and Fan Expo Canada. In regard to the roles she has played, Panettiere admitted that options are sometimes limited because "people look at [her] as either the 'popular cheerleader' type or just 'the blonde'."

On the film front, Hayden will soon be seen in "The Architect" alongside Anthony LaPaglia, and "Shanghai Kiss". She recently starred as Britney Allen in "Bring it On: All or Nothing", a DVD release that broke sales records.

Hayden's film, "Normal" opposite Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson and directed by Jane Anderson for HBO, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. She filmed "Raising Helen," opposite Kate Hudson and directed by Gary Marshall. Hayden surprised and delighted audiences by joining the cast of the award winning TV series, "Ally McBeal," as Ally's fiery and precocious long-lost daughter. Her spitfire characters in both, the recent film, "Joe Somebody" as Tim Allen's daughter, and the riveting female lead in the much acclaimed story, "Remember the Titans" in which she co-starred with Denzel Washington, have established her a unique talent. Her portrayal of a young Jeanne, played by Hilary Swank, in "The Affair of the Necklace" is a cameo performance of depth beyond her years.

Hayden's other film credits include "Message In a Bottle" with Kevin Costner and "Object of My Affection" with Jennifer Aniston. Her television experience extends from her Hollywood Reporter's nomination for Best Young Actress in a Daytime Series, for her portrayal of Lizzie Spaulding on "Guiding Light," a role as an abused child on "Law and Order SVU," to the miniseries, "Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke" where Hayden played the distraught young Doris opposite Lauren Bacall, "If you Believe", as the magical and intuitive inner-child of Ally Walker for Lifetime, as a

cancer patient guest-starring on "Touched by an Angel" opposite Sheri Stringfield and a guest lead role as an eccentric teenager on "Malcolm in the Middle."

Her voice is recognizable as her face! She starred in the delightful animated feature, A Bugs Life, as Princess Dot. Her work for A Bugs Life Read-a-long garnered her a Grammy Nomination for Best Spoken Word Album, as well as a nomination for The Hollywood Reporters Young Star Award for Best Young Voiceover Talent. Hayden is also the voice of Suri in Disney's, Dinosaurs.

In addition to being one of the foremost gifted young actresses, Hayden is an accomplished gymnast and dancer, enjoys singing, equestrian, volleyball, and is now trying her hand in surfing!