We know she plays an indestructible cheerleader on the hit TV show Heroes… but offscreen, Hayden Panettiere is just about as fierce.

At first, Hayden seems to have perfected the glamorous celebrity aura, as evidenced by her chic, head-to-toe black ensemble — complete with Ray-Bans perched on her head and sexy thigh-high boots on her teeny, size-5 feet.

But Hayden Panettiere is not concerned with perpetuating Hollywood ideals.

Read her interview with Cosmopolitan and see why.

Here’s one undecided voter who expects to be personally wooed by the Democratic candidates: Heroes star Hayden Panettiere.

The 18-year-old cutie said that she was “not yet prepared to say” which of the White House hopefuls she is supporting.

“I had a conversation with Barack Obama,” she said. “I’m waiting to hear from Hillary Clinton.”

The decisive issue for the actress? Saving the whales.

A source tells Us Weekly that when Hayden Panettiere attended a February 1 dinner with Chelsea Clinton, “Hayden made it clear to Chelsea she’ll vote for whoever will help save the whales.”

Hillary? Barack? Time to step it up.

In the latest GQ, Hayden Panettiere gives an interview like never before, in which she talks about Heroes, fame, the fall of Britney Spears, Halo (her relationship with Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia), what girls she crushes and more …

GQ: When will you become the latest screwed-up girl in Hollywood?
Hayden Panettiere: Never, never. Cross our fingers.

GQ: We can’t schedule it for your 21st birthday or anything?
Hayden Panettiere: You can’t schedule rehab for me. And I don’t think you can schedule any DUIs. I think I’m going to be one of those boring girls.

GQ: Will you at least go into a gas-station bathroom without shoes on?
Hayden Panettiere: No, that’s disgusting. I’ve walked around other places maybe without my shoes on, but not bathrooms.

GQ: Tell us about your couple of years, since Heroes began.
Hayden Panettiere: This business turns life upside down. For some strange reason, I’ve become one of the targets of the paparazzi. Things get crazy.

Continue reading this interview with Hayden Panettiere …

She may not be indestructible like Claire, but Heroes cheerleader Hayden Panettiere is trying to save the world in her own way.

The 18-year-old actress was involved in a violent confrontation with Japanese fishermen as she tried to disrupt a dolphin slaughter.

Hayden was one of six surfers from Australia and the United States who were intercepted by a fishing boat before they could reach dolphins they hoped to save from being drive into a nearby cove and killed.

The angry fishermen used the boat’s propellers to block the protesters’ way, and at one point struck out at Hayden Panettiere and her cohorts with a boathook.

It was an ugly, potentially life-threatening confrontation that lasted more than 10 minutes before the surfers were forced to return to the beach.

Hayden Panettiere, a keen surfer, committed marine conservationist and supporter of the campaign to save Japan’s dolphins, said:

“It was really frightening. Some of us were hit by the boathook. But in the end all we really worried about was the dolphins. It was so incredibly sad. We were so close to them and they were sky hopping, jumping out of the water to see us.”

Breaking down, she added: “One little baby dolphin stuck his head outand kinda looked at me and the thought that it’s no longer with us is really hard to take.”

“I couldn’t believe how red the water was,” the Heroes star said in a statement issued through the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “The whales were so scared. Hopefully their deaths won’t be in vain.”

Following the incident, the surfers drove straight to Osaka airport and left the country to avoid arrest by the Japanese national police.

More than 22,000 dolphins are slaughtered by fishermen in Japan every year. The hunt continues despite worldwide condemnation.

They may deny any sort of romantic relationship, and Heroes co-stars James Kyson Lee, Masi Oka and Kristen Bell have all said they’re not an item.

But come on. We all know Milo Ventimiglia and Hayden Panettiere are an item. Enough with the denials, just admit it already. We approve of Halo!

The latest sign that Milo Ventimiglia has been showing Hayden Panettiere his affections? He bought her a ring… from Tiffany & Co.

According to In Touch Weekly, Milo, 30, gave Hayden Panettiere, 18, an 18-karat yellow gold ring worth $1,950 as a belated birthday present.

The ring, called Somerset Heart, features a woven band and a heart, and according to the magazine, is inscribed, “Sweet like Hayden.” Awww.

When celebrity gossip sites and fans have become obsessed with romance rumors between Heroes stars Milo Ventimiglia and Hayden Panettiere, one Heroes co-star says they’re just that - rumors.

“Let’s just end it there. The rumor is not true,” co-star James Kyson Lee, who plays Ando, said to People Tuesday in Hollywood.

“I think we were just surprised because they’re 12 years apart - for people to even conceive that. I know there have been jokes, Hayden turning 18 and whatnot. But at some point, you have to let it go and respect the privacy of those two.”

Hmm. Okay then. But what about that video …

If there were any doubts that Heroes‘ Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia - now officially known as Halo - were more than friends, this video clandestinely shot at the Emmy Awards’ after party concert by Duran Duran has put an end to them. We’re all for Hayden and Milo here! Check it out …

Hayden Panettiere is just getting over a breakup (from Laguna Beach boyfriend Stephen Colletti) and subject of dating rumors (with Milo Ventimiglia) but she doesn’t get any romance advice from co-star Masi Oka.

Rather, it goes the other way.

“[Stephen Colletti] was a good guy,” Oka told People Magazine at the Emmys over the weekend. “But I’m really in no place to give advice because I’m looking for love myself and I haven’t had much luck there. I’m single and available.”

You heard him, ladies! It turns out that Hayden Panettiere, despite her young age (she just turned 18), is the wise one when it comes to love advice.

“She’s the one that gives advice,” Masi Oka says of Hayden.

“I remember one day we went to this premiere, and I didn’t realize it was a press event. They were taking pictures and Hayden came up to me and said ‘Masi, you have a hickey! We have to cover you up!’ And I was like, ‘Whoa. I didn’t know that.’ Hayden takes care of all of us!”

Good to hear Hayden Panettiere is already like a mother hen… at 18.

Hayden Panettiere is back on the market!

The Heroes hottie, 18, and her boyfriend of one year, Laguna Beach alumnus Stephen Colletti, 21, have officially split up, according to Us Weekly.

But Hayden (who spent the end of August promoting Heroes in Europe with co-stars Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar) seems to have moved on.

When asked where Stephen Colletti was at the MTV VMAs September 9, Hayden told photographers and reporters, “I don’t know. California?”

Maybe it’s because Hayden Panettiere had time to adjust to it being over. As a source tells Us Weekly, “Their breakup has been a long time coming.”

But this doesn’t mean the former sweethearts are feuding. Panettiere says that she and Stephen Colletti are “still very close friends” and “talk to each other frequently, and appreciate and support each other’s careers.”

Before Hayden, Stephen famously dated both Kristin Cavallari and Lauren Conrad in high school, as shown on Laguna Beach.

Guys, get your resumes ready. If you think YOU should are worthy of dating Hayden Panettiere next, leave us a comment on this post and tell us why.

Hayden Panettiere recently reduced her mother, Leslie Panettiere, to tears when she got herself a small tattoo of her zodiac sign (!) without her folks’ permission, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The sexy 18-year-old Heroes cheerleader only got the tattoo done a year ago, but managed to keep it a secret from her protective parent.

“It’s a Leo symbol on my ankle. My mom didn’t see it for ages,” says Hayden Panettiere of her tat, which has since been outed.

Hayden Panettiere’s tattoo didn’t remain a secret for too long, though, as an acting job intervened, forcing our girl to the hidden body art.

“I was being body-scanned for a special effect on ‘Heroes,’” the actress who plays Claire Bennet says. “And she saw it, then tried to rub it off, and suddenly I realized. Her eyes welled up.”

Hopefully Mario Lopez was there to comfort Leslie.