Hayden Panettiere was a seasoned professional by the time she auditioned for “Heroes” at the age of 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.
Hayden was 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.
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.
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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.
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. The best characters always meet you halfway between the actor and what’s on the page. And in “Heroes,” where Claire Bennet ended and Hayden started became a blurred line. She never had to change how she would say something to be Claire Bennet. It was the Hayden voice cadence that we got used to writing for.
“Heroes” was a success from the start, and there was no question that Hayden was a breakout star. 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.
Hayden and I didn’t have too much contact after “Heroes” ended in 2010. A few years later, however, when I inquired with her agent about her availability for another project, Hayden called immediately 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.
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.
Writer-producer Tim Kring created and served as showrunner and executive producer of NBC drama “Heroes” from 2006 to 2010.
(Pictured: Hayden Panettiere in Season 3 of NBC drama “Heroes” in 2009)