Hayden Panettiere is only 18 years old, but she's already displayed her talents in over 40 films and TV shows, has done voices for video-games and, of course, plays the indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes

We talked to the popular actress about her experiences on the show so far...

Q:: Did you ever give any thought to any other profession besides acting?

Hayden Panettiere: No, I've been acting since I was eight months old (laughs). I was on a soap opera [One Life to Live] when I was four. I love acting. It's something I grew up doing, but if I didn't like doing it, I definitely wouldn't be here. I just did it and it eventually got to a point where I couldn't see myself doing anything else.

Q: Before Heroes, it doesn't seem as though you performed in many supernatural/science-fiction genre pieces.

Hayden Panettiere: Yeah. I think the thing about [Heroes] that's really good is that it's a happy balance of making it not cheesy. It's more about the evolution of man. It's more how man is evolving, as opposed to these random people who just have these superpowers.

I think it's different [from other superhero stories], because it's a lot more [set] in reality, a very reality-based show. It's human issues, which is, I think, partially why it's appealing to people. People can relate to it - there's this huge conflict, huge issues going on in everyone's lives, but they've got huge issues of their own too that are normal.

Q: Did you have any interest in superhero stories before you got involved in Heroes?

Hayden Panettiere: No, actually. I mean, I've always been a fan of Spider-Man and Superman and Batman. I have an 11-year-old brother who's into all that, and I have a cousin, actually, who does comic book designs, and he's amazing, so I grew up with him having the huge collection of comic books and action figures.

Q: When you auditioned for Claire, what did they tell you they were looking for, as far as what she was like?

Hayden Panettiere: Well, she was a normal teenage girl. She was a cheerleader. What makes her interesting is that she is a normal teenage girl going through normal teenage things, going through what every girl goes through in high school, but she has these powers that makes it even harder to grow up - it makes it scary and of course she thinks something's wrong with her.

And it's what every teenage girl can relate to - up to the fact of being able to heal herself (laughs). I describe it as tissue regeneration.

Q: What's it like doing the scenes when Claire has been mutilated and hasn't recovered yet, like when she's on the autopsy table?

Hayden Panettiere: Oh, yeah. I had to go do body scanning afterwards and it took about five or six hours to put on. The [fake] blood would run down. Can you imagine what blood starts to look like on your body after 10-and-a-half hours?

Q: What are your fellow Heroes actors like?

Hayden Panettiere: Adrian [Pasdar], we've always said, is like the big brother. He always wants to take you here, take you there - he's the leader when [cast-members are on tour together]. Greg [Grunberg] is a goofball, Milo [Ventimiglia] is more of a flirt, Sendhil [Ramamurthy] and Masi [Oka] are great.

Ali [Larter] and I are girls, we stick together. Jack Coleman I'm very close to. I get to work with him a lot, and he's so much fun. He's so funny and he's such a bright man. It's fun to be around somebody like that who is bright, but funny at the same time.

Zach [Quinto], who plays Sylar, is funny as anything, and he's a good friend, too. And Ashley Crow, who plays my mom - they all have their own personalities, and it's a hoot when we get together.

Everyone has a crush on either Milo or Sendhil, but then I look at Greg and Adrian and Masi, and I see that everyone has crushes on them, too. We have a cast full of heartthrobs, what can I say? It's not only a large cast, but it's a large cast of really good actors.

When you're around such good actors, you want to bring yourself up to their level and strive to do your best. At the same time, in this show, we don't always get the chance to work with each other, so it's almost like showing off every time you get to work with [any cast-mate]. You're so excited, because it's like, 'Ooh, I've got to be really good, because I'm working with so-and-so today.'

Q: How do you feel about the ardent fan reaction to Heroes?

Hayden Panettiere: It's very cool that they like it so much - it's like a pat on our backs every time they say something about it and love it. We're filming in the studio and it doesn't always click that 15 million people are watching the show, so it's cool to hear from them.

Q: What can you tell us about the in-the-works Heroes videogame?

Hayden Panettiere: I don't know anything about the layout. I'm ecstatic. My cousin actually made me my first action figure - it's not 'real', obviously, but he did a really cool job. It's sitting on my shelf.

It's always fun to see what they do with your characters [in terms of merchandising, comics, etc.] and in the videogame, to see what kind of animation they use. I would love to be involved with it. Other than that, I have no idea.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to say about Heroes?

Hayden Panettiere: I'm just really excited about it.

Taken from the Official Heroes Magazine on sale now