Jack Coleman is remembering his Heroes co-star Hayden Panettiere.
In a tribute shared on his social media, the actor reflected on working with the actress on the NBC drama series where Colman portrayed Noah Bennet, the father to Panettiere’s Claire.
“I’m heartbroken. I couldn’t begin to put my thoughts into words until now, and they will be inadequate. I’ve loved Hayden since day one of the pilot of Heroes, 20 years ago, when she introduced herself by shouting ‘daddy’ and throwing her arms around me. From that day on, she called me daddio. She was Haydini, because she was a magician,“ he wrote.
Coleman went on to describe Panettiere as a “prodigious talent,“ who was just 16 at the time of filming. “During an early scene, a tear rolled down her cheek on the same line, take after take. I marveled at her technique. ‘It’s not technique,‘ she corrected me. ‘I’m not a trained seal. I feel it and the tears just happen to come at that moment.‘ She was 16.“
Given her young age at the time, Colman said she had to endure growing up in the public eye and was “hunted“ by photographers.
“By 17 she was #1 on IMDB Pro. She was routinely asked obnoxious questions, mostly some version of ‘when are you going to go off the rails?‘ Today, we’d recognize those questions for the misogynistic provocations they were. She was hunted. Everywhere she went, there were photographers with 300 millimeter lenses—the kind that can make even the most innocent activity look sinister. Once, when she came to our house, paparazzi hid in the bushes behind our yard and drove onto neighbors’ lawns. They were predatory. No one, especially a teenager, should be targeted that way,” he wrote.
Despite experiencing the heightened media attention, Coleman says Panettiere “brought joy“ to set and treated everyone with kindness.
“She brought joy to the set and a photographic memory. Everyone was in awe of her ability to bring it every take. A tiny colossus who loved to laugh. We laughed a lot. That shining face, that megawatt smile, that wasn’t just for the camera. That was her. She glowed,“ Colman continued.
As he‘s still processing the news of Panettiere, who died Sunday at age 36, Coleman said he‘s “filled with sorrow and regret. And anger. But that’s for another time. Right now I want to remember an extraordinary young woman who was blessed and cursed. She was vulnerable. She felt everything. It made her a remarkable actor and susceptible to the heartache and thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”
In his parting words, Coleman expressed his love for the actress and his wish that she had been protected and free of suffering.
“I love you, Hayden. I’ll miss you. I’m so sorry you suffered. I’ll remember how happy you were on set and on the European press tour; how you championed Tess when she was being bullied; your commitment to animal welfare and the courage to put yourself in harm’s way to protect them. I only wish you had been given that same protection. Good night, sweet girl. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Panettiere is survived by her parents and daughter, Kaya, whom she shares with ex Wladimir Klitschko. The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said the cause and manner of her death remain pending further investigation, and that there were no obvious signs of trauma to her body.
