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.

We come across many Hayden Panettiere photos in the making of this site. All of which we are grateful for, and are awful darn cute, really.

The Hayden Panettiere photo shoot from this month’s FHM, however, is in an entirely different league. The girl is flat-out gorgeous. Peep it.

Not sure if you heard, but Hayden’s 18th birthday was this week (Tuesday), making it a little less weird for guys to be obsessed with her! Nice.

Maybe you’ve noticed that despite her very young age (17 for another three weeks), Hayden Panettiere has become a major sex symbol.

This trend has reached new heights with the newest edition of FHM in the UK, which features our girl in a seductive pose. Gulp. Not that we’re complaining, as Hayden looks great in anything and anywhere.

Anyway, here’s the Hayden Panettiere shot from the UK FHM …

Is it hot in here? Or is it just Hayden Panettiere?

Probably a little of both. It is July 30, after all. It’s a tad humid outside. Needless to say, we’re psyched for Heroes to return, as it gives us a chance to see our girl once a week for a full hour. But until September, magazine features and photos like this are certainly appreciated!

Heroes‘ cheerleader, Claire Bennet, is already back on-set, but that doesn’t mean actress Hayden Panettiere can’t have some fun with a few favorite summer things.

Hayden Panettiere made her singing debut - “The Star-Spangled Banner” - at this year’s A Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, D.C., and took the time to give People the lowdown on her summer must-haves …

Hayden Panettiere’s beach must-have:
A bocce ball set. My friends and I like to play.

Summer food of choice:
I like a lot of fruit. I love mangoes and papaya and pineapple.

Hayden Panettiere’s summer anthem:
I love Journey. They’ve got some awesome songs like “Don’t Stop Believing” … It’s just a feel good song. It’s like you’re at a party, they play that song and everyone just goes nuts.

Bikini or a one-piece?
I’m a bikini girl. Can’t have those tan lines! I love wearing bathing suits. They’re comfortable. You feel like you have to look good in clothes. I feel so much more comfortable with a bathing suit on because nothing’s constricting.

Favorite read:
I’m usually reading scripts, but I always love Harry Potter. I’m a dork when it comes to that. Harry Potter just takes you into a completely different world.

Movie she is most excited to see:
Bruce Willis (father of Hayden BFF Rumer Willis) in Live Free or Die Hard. I think it’s cool that they’re bringing him back. It looks really fun.

Must-see TV:
I love Entourage. It’s a fabulous portrayal of what this business is really like.

Her dream destination:
I would go to Fiji … I’m dying to. I just read something in the magazine the other day that there are these underwater hotel rooms now in Fiji that are literally made out of glass. That would be my dream

The one and only Hayden Panettiere, along with SNL’s Kristen Wiig and many others, made the cut on Entertainment Weekly’s Must List - The 100 movie, TV, and music stars we love right now. Apparently, we’re not the only ones who think Hayden rules. Here’s the article about her:

WHY HAYDEN PANETTIERE?

The breakout star of TV’s hottest new drama, Heroes, Hayden Panettiere is Claire Bennet, an unbreakable high school girl who became synonymous with the show when “Save the cheerleader, save the world!” hit the airwaves and entered the pop culture lexicon.

“I think it was very clever,” says the New York-born actress, although she admits that calls of “Hey, cheerleader!” now follow her around L.A. “But it’s fun. It’s not an obnoxious thing.” Technically speaking, Claire does not actually spend much time shaking pom-poms. “I told [Heroes creator] Tim Kring I need to cheer at some point,” says a laughing Panettiere. “She wears the outfit all the time!”

SHE’S CROSSING OVER

Her debut record, due in 2008, reflects her diverse tastes. “I wanted to make every song sound as different as possible,” she says. “I hate sitting down and listening to an album where every song sounds the same.”

Hayden Panettiere, who trained to be a singer and even sang jingles for a time, co-wrote most of the album’s tracks, including “Saved,” about the death of a friend. “You come in with an idea of what you want to write about,” she says of the collaborative process. “It’s fun when you have a lot of different people that you get to bounce ideas off of.”

WHAT’S UP NEXT

Hayden Panettiere’s day job on Heroes should keep her busy for years, but she begins working on the indie drama Fireflies in the Garden, with Julia Roberts, in the very near future. It’s a dream job, obviously — and definitely worth sacrificing a vacation for. “I really wanted to set the tone for the kind of things that I want to do,” she says.

In the film, Hayden Panettiere will portray a young woman who leaves home to get an abortion. Heavy stuff!

SECRET TALENT

“I can ride a zebra! I had to ride one in Racing Stripes, and I’m, like, one of the only people who’s ever ridden one. The trick is to hang on tight. They’re bouncy little things. And never, ever go by the rear of it. It’s not fun. They’ll kick the bejesus out of you.”

Good advice, as always, from the lovely and effervescent Hayden Panettiere. We’ll keep that in mind the next time we’re in Tanzania.

Nothing special to report here, just a cute pic of Hayden Panettiere from the new Us Weekly. In the magazine, she dishes a little on her life and dating in L.A. Wonder if she talks about Stephen Colletti…

A year ago at this time, few people knew who Hayden Panettiere was, let alone how to pronounce her last name (for the record, it’s pen-eh-TEER).

Yet in six short months the 17-year-old Palisades, N.Y., native has become a certified Hollywood “it” girl. She now stars as the cheerleader on NBC’s smash hit, Heroes, taking on dramatic roles in films like The Architect, and launching a singing career.

She’s even been spotted hanging with Paris Hilton - though we’re not really sure how we feel about that. Okay, we are. And we hope Hayden knows better than to let success go to her head.

In any event, Rockland Magazine, which serves Hayden Panettiere’s home region, has put together a fun timeline of her young career. Check it out:

2006

September 25: Makes one of the best debuts in TV history — jumping off a building, snapping her mangled body back together, then doing it again!. That’s right, Hayden Panettiere is the indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes.

November: Hayden Panettiere officially moves from Palisades to Los Angeles along with her parents and younger brother.

November 3: Poses for the cover of Entertainment Weekly. Inside, she tells the mag she celebrated her hit show’s success by buying a Porsche and nearly running over Kanye West. Nice!

November 14: Photographed at L.A.’s mandatory pop-princess-paparazzi stop, KOI, holding hands with music producer J.R. Rotem, supposedly Britney Spears’ most recent ex-boyfriend.

December 4: Hangs with Paris Hilton at VH1’s Big in ’06 Awards. In the creepiest pairing of the night, Panettiere presents an award with sleazy 44-year-old Tommy Lee. Towering over the 5′1″ baby-faced actress, he asks her to call him when she turns 18. We’re creeped out.

December 14: Adopts a pet cause — online safety — with her 2 Smart 4U ad campaign warning teens of the dangers lurking on the Web. In addition, she’s a Neutrogena cover girl!

December: Stars with Anthony LaPaglia in The Architect, one of her first dramatic leading roles in a feature film.

2007

January 9: Celebrates with castmates when Heroes wins for Best New TV Drama at the People’s Choice Awards.

February: Poses for Vanity Fair in a white bathing suit reminiscent of a 1950s-era Marilyn Monroe.

May 8: Her debut album, still untitled, is slated to hit stores.