Hollywood Crush › Heroes

Hayden Panettiere might play a rapidly-regenerating cheerleader on TV, but when it comes to real-life heroics, the star of NBC's "Heroes" has a lot more in common with Al Gore than Wolverine — for the past five years, she's been working as a spokeswoman for the Whaleman Foundation, an organization dedicated to the protection of marine life from man-made dangers. Tanned and sporting some beach-tousled locks on the cover of the March issue of SELF magazine, Hayden took a break from free diving with pilot whales to talk about her off-screen life, working in the water, and her passion for making a difference.

As part of her work with the Whaleman Foundation, Hayden recently lent her voice to a major protest in response to the capture and killing of whales and dolphins in Japan — a dangerous encounter that was captured on film in "The Cove". The documentary chronicles the clash between activists and Japanese fisherman during the annual dolphin hunt at Taiji, Wakayama. Says Hayden, "When we did the protest in 'The Cove,' I thought I’d be scared, but when I saw what was going on, I had no fear at all. I was deeply angry.”

Read more...

Tags Hayden Panettiere, Heroes, Self Magazine, The Cove

FROM MOVIES BLOG: Though season four of NBC’s “Heroes” won’t start for a few more months, Hayden Panettiere told MTV News that there’s a new mysterious group that fans can look forward to in September: The Carnival.

Panettierre, who plays the title role in July 10th’s “I Love You, Beth Cooper,” is already preparing for more adventures as super-powered cheerleader Claire Bennet. “The next season of ‘Heroes’ has a lot of characters that are coming in,” says Panettierre, “There’s something called The Carnival… which is kind of the opposite of what The Company was."

Continue reading more about Hayden Panettierre's "Heroes" scoop at MoviesBlog.MTV.com.

Tags Hayden Panettiere, Heroes, I Love You Beth Cooper