Hayden Panettiere is keen to distance herself from her role in Heroes — because she doesn’t want to end up being typecast.
The actress is taking a break from playing an indestructible teen to go for laughs in new movie I Love You Beth, Cooper.
“I really wanted to do a comedy,” says Hayden, who plays a prom queen in the movie.
“Coming from a show like Heroes, its nice to spread your wings a little bit. If you don’t do it, you get categorized.
“You are your last film. It’s hard for people to see you in another light. Coming from a drama, it was important for me to show another part of my personality.”
Hayden, 19, recently revealed that she was bullied at school.
“I was never the popular girl. I actually thought the worst was middle school, it was all about where you sat in the lunchroom,” she said. “And it was one of the most traumatizing experiences for me. I was absolutely tortured.
“I remember going to sit with the popular kids for the first time because one girl invited me over and one of the guys pulled the chair out from underneath me before I sat down and everyone started laughing. So, I was never the popular girl. Never, never, never.” [source]
