It’s the ultimate high-school girl’s fantasy.
You’re on a sound stage, surrounded by a hairdresser, makeup artists and racks of beautiful clothes. A camera crew follows you as you shoot a TV commercial for which you’re getting paid big bucks.
Welcome to the world of Hayden Panettiere.
She’s been in front of the cameras since her audition for a commercial at eight months old, “before she could even sit up straight,” says her mom, Lesley. Panettiere, who turns 18 August 21, stars on Heroes as Claire Bennet, who inspired the show’s catchphrase “Save the cheerleader, save the world.”
At this Sunday shoot, Hayden Panettiere is joined by her 12-year-old brother, Jansen Panettiere, who’s followed his big sis into show business.
In the Nickelodeon movie The Last Day of Summer (premiering Friday at 8 pm/ET) he plays a boy who dreads going to school and wishes Labor Day would last forever.
Don’t we all…
As they sit down to talk with TV Guide, Hayden Panettiere — at her mother’s prompting — starts to interview her brother.
Hayden Panettiere: Why are you so handsome?
Jansen Panettiere: ‘Cause I got good genes from my mom.
Hayden: You are hurting Dad’s feelings.
Jansen: [To his father, Skip, who is also at the shoot] Dad, you gave me a very balanced body. [To Hayden Panettiere] Now, why are you so gorgeous?
Hayden: Because I am related to you. Why did you get the dark skin and the dark eyes?
Jansen: It is a lot harder for me because [Hollywood] likes blond, blue-eyed kids.
Hayden: No one wants him to play white. He is doing a feature film, The Perfect Game….
Jansen: I play a Hispanic baseball player from the 1950s.
Hayden: What’s your character like in The Last Day of Summer?
Jansen: I don’t think he is extremely… energized? How do you say it?
Hayden: Energetic. You, by the way, are very energetic.
Jansen: Thank you for noticing. My character does not have the electricity that I have. During the film his confidence gets a total boot.
Hayden: Boot! You mean boost.
Jansen: Oh my god. I can’t work with her. [To his mother] Mom, Hayden is picking on me.
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