There is more to Hayden Panettiere than her beautiful face and her body of work as a film and television actress. She is also a talented singer, celebrity spokesperson and an activist that uses her fame to make people aware of the abuse done to animals on a daily basis.

This 18 year old, New York native was practically born into show business. Hayden began her professional career as a model at the tender age of 8 months old. By 11 months, she booked a commercial for the popular children oriented toy company, Playskool, and soon after was appearing regularly all across televisions and movie screens. Hayden got her start in television through a plum role she landed on the daytime drama, One Life to Live, and followed it up with another role on Guiding Light. While performing on the daytime serials, she was able to parlay her acting talent into roles on the big screen. She was featured in such motion pictures as Remember the Titans with Denzel Washington, The Affair of the Necklace with Hilary Swank and Christopher Walken, Raising Helen with Kate Hudson and Ice Princess with Michelle Trachtenberg and Joan Cusack. She will also soon be appearing in the motion picture drama, Fireflies in the Garden alongside Julia Roberts and Ryan Reynolds. Though Hayden has garnered an impressive list of feature film credits, she is best known for her current role as Claire Bennet in the popular NBC sci-fi series, Heroes. The show premiered in 2006 with the tagline Save the Cheerleader. Save the World. Since Hayden plays the cheerleader, she has been heavily featured on the show, which has allowed her to get massive media and fan attention that gets bigger by the day. Due to her popularity, she has become a regular on the convention circuit, including the New York Comic Con and the Fan Expo in Canada. Hayden also works as a spokesperson for Neutrogena's worldwide ad campaign. As if keeping busy on a highly rated television show and appearing on Neutrogena ads everywhere were not enough, Hayden is also an accomplished singer. She has been featured on the soundtracks of several motion pictures, including Bring it On: All or Nothing, Ice Princess, and Bridge to Terabithia. She also composed a song for the television movie, Tiger Cruise, which she also starred in alongside Bill Pullman. Hayden recently completed her debut solo album, due to be released in 2008. This hard working young lady is also using her name to bring attention to the animal abuse that occurs in the world everyday. In October, 2007 she traveled to Japan to confront the fisherman off the waters of Taiji, Wakayama. Every year, these fishermen participate in the slaughter of over 22,000 gentle dolphins. Hayden, along with a small group of activists, paddled into the water where the slaughter occurred and attempted to disrupt the fisherman by distracting the dolphin pods away from their nets. The confrontation turned violent and Hayden was forced to paddle back to shore with the rest of the activists, but not before her brave attempt was captured on camera for millions to see. Hayden's actions earned her the Compassion in Action award from animal rights group, PETA, and gave the dolphin plight global attention. This young woman is the complete package, sharing her talent, beauty and compassion with the world. Though she has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time, we here at Young Hollywood believe that she has only just begun to scratch the surface of her multiple abilities, and we will be enjoying her work for a long time to come.

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