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.
