Hayden Panettiere

Though she was only 17, by the time Hayden Panettiere gained stardom as one of the leads on NBC's hit superhero drama Heroes, she'd already been acting for more than 16 years. After appearing in television commercials beginning at 11 months old, flaxen-haired Panettiere was cast as a regular on One Life to Live at five. She remained on the show for three years, before leaving for a stint on another soap, Guiding Light. Meanwhile, she appeared in a number of small movie parts as well as one of the lead voices in Pixar's A Bug's Life. After Panettiere showed up in such films as Remember the Titans and Joe Somebody, her next notable role was Maddie Harrington, the long-lost daughter of the quirky title character on Fox's Ally McBeal. Along with supporting parts in Raising Helen and Racing Stripes and the lead in the second straight-to-DVD Bring It On sequel, several more small TV roles followed before 2006, when she was cast on Heroes as the cheerleader with the ability to spontaneously heal herself. Panettiere's first post-Heroes project came in 2007 with the indie comedy drama Shanghai Kiss, in which she starred opposite Ken Leung. - Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide