Heroes Cheerleader To Test Self
From SciFi Wire
| 12:00 AM, 13-AUGUST-07 | |||||
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Heroes Cheerleader To Test Self Hayden Panettiere, who plays indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet on NBC’s Heroes, told journalists that the upcoming second season will find her character’s pushing the limits of her ability to heal herself. “I think this season she’s really looking to figure out more about her powers, more about what she can do, how far she can push it, what happens when she does it,” Panettiere said in a conference call on Aug. 9. “And there’s still some unanswered questions for her about her ability, how far her pain tolerance can go or if she can actually die if something happens.” Following the events of the season finale, in which the main characters came together to fend off the villain Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and stop Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimigila) from becoming a human bomb, Claire and her adoptive family will go into hiding. “She’s trying to be a normal girl,” Panettiere said. “I think it’s less of a challenge and more fun. It’s fun to be in hiding.” But as Claire becomes more used to her powers, she will start to use them unconsciously, which leads to more of the kind of gore that was seen in early episodes of season one. “The longer she has it and the farther it goes, then the less she really is conscious of it,” she said. “The less she thinks about it, the less she notices that she can’t do certain things, the less it clicks in her head. So trust me, you will see plenty of blood, plenty of snaps and pops and crackles.” Panettiere also explained that she sees her character’s struggles as a metaphor for the issues many teenagers deal with as they test the limits of their freedom. “[Teens] are constantly trying to push their parents away,” she said. “They’re constantly trying to test the limits of their freedom and how far they can push things. And that’s sort of the same thing with Claire. She’s just doing it in a different way, … not to go to the mall with her friends [but] more to learn more about herself and this ability and what she can do. I think in that way it’s definitely a teenage universal message. All teenagers will understand that one. But I think that’ll still continue to be a battle for her until she’s an adult, and even then, her dad’s going to want to protect her.” Although Claire is moving on and growing up, Panettiere assured fans that she won’t necessarily be leaving behind her cheerleading persona. “I wouldn’t say goodbye to the cheerleading outfit just yet,” she said. Heroes returns on Sept. 24 and will air in the same timeslot, Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. (NBC is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.) —Cindy White |
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