Before They Were 'Heroes'

More About 'Heroes'

• 'Heroes' Season One Guide
• 'Heroes' Season Two Spoilers

Hayden Panettiere

Grammy Power: Panettiere plays the young cheerleader on the show, but she is no novice to the entertainment industry. After starting her career in commercials, she segued into soap opera roles on both 'One Life to Live' and 'Guiding Light.' Her voiceover work for 'A Bug's Life Read Along' garnered her a Grammy Award.

Noah Grey-Cabey

Power of Music: Before Micah could manipulate machines, Grey-
Cabey could manipulate keys. He is a master pianist who learned to play by memorizing his dad's fingering and replicating the movements to perfection, all without learning to read sheet music. He's the youngest soloist to perform at the Sydney Opera House.

Greg Grunberg

Good Luck Charm: Being lifelong friends with super producer J.J. Abrams doesn't hurt an actor's resume. Abrams deemed Grunberg his good luck charm and cast him in all his projects including 'Felicity,' 'Alias,' 'Lost' and 'Mission Impossible: 3.' Greg is a real-life hero for the Pediatric Epilepsy Project; he became involved with the cause after his own son was diagnosed with the disease.

Sendhil Ramamurthy

To Be or Not to be a 'Hero': Before landing the roll of Mohinder, Ramamurthy was pursuing a career in medicine. But taking an arts course to graduate from Tufts University changed his path. He moved to London to continue his acting studies and performed with Royal Shakespeare Company.

Ali Larter

Girl Power: Before she played both Niki and troubled mirror image Jessica, Esquire magazine considered her image perfect for a fictional Hollywood dreamgirl on their November 1996 cover. Larter made her acting debut wearing nothing but whipped cream in the movie 'Varsity Blues' and was the fake fitness guru saved in the movie 'Legally Blonde.'

Leonard Roberts

The Anti-Hero: Before Roberts became D.L., whose ability to walk through walls was not revealed at first, he appeared on 'Smallville' as Nam-Ek, Clark's nemesis from the Phantom Zone. He's also had roles in 'Bones,' 'CSI: Miami,' 'Providence' and '24.'

Adrian Pasdar

A Top Gun: A car accident during Pasdar's freshman year at University of Florida ended his dreams of a football career. Injury followed him in his second career, building sets for a local theater company, when he decided to pursue acting instead. His first major role was Chipper on 'Top Gun.' On a personal musical note, he is also married to Dixie Chick Natalie Maines, with whom he has two children.

Milo Ventimiglia

Italian Stallion: Peter Petrelli has the world's carnage sitting on his shoulders, but Ventimiglia is ready for any role after playing Rocky Balboa, Jr. in the final sequel to 'Rocky.' Ventimiglia became known as both the on- and off-screen boyfriend of Alexis Bledel on the 'Gilmore Girls' before their break up in 2006.

Tawny Cypress

Hero in Blue: She originally auditioned for the role of Niki but landed the role of arts dealer Simone. Hailing from New Jersey, Tawny had good practice playing a New Yorker in 'NYPD Blue,' 'Third Watch,' '100 Centre Street' and 'World Trade Center.' Comics are in her family tree as well: her brother is a published comic book artist.

Santiago Cabrera

Political Powers: Cabrera plays the clairvoyant artist Isaac on the show, but his real-life powers are political. He's the son of a Chilean diplomat, which explains his fluency in four languages. After making name for himself as an actor in Chile, he made his first television appearances in London before landing his gig on 'Heroes'.

Jack Coleman

Born from Electricity: It wasn't until he was 10 years old that Jack Coleman realized he was a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin. Before landing the role of H.R.G., he was known as Steve Carrington on 'Dynasty' as well as being an award-winning stage performer.

Jimmy Jean Louis

A Model Life: Before he landed the role of the Haitian on 'Heroes', Jimmy was a Haitian boy in a small town before.Then, he was spotted by a modeling scout and ultimately ended up in Paris. He made a transition to acting at La Belle Epoque, a musical theater in Spain, and continued his career in the United States.

Zachary Quinto

A NoTORIous Hero: In a complete 180 from his current role as the murderous, power-stealing Syler, Quinto played the openly gay Persian-American sidekick in Tori Spelling's pseudo reality sitcom 'So Notorious.' Besides that blemish on his resume, he has also landed parts on 'CSI,' 'Charmed,' 'Six Feet Under' and a recurring role as Adam Kaufman on '24.'