Jack Coleman is remembering Hayden Panettiere not only as the actress who played his daughter on Heroes, but as a teenager whose extraordinary talent and rapid rise to fame exposed her to pressures he believes no young performer should have faced.
Coleman, who played Noah Bennet opposite Panettiere's Claire Bennet on the NBC drama, shared an emotional tribute after her death at 36. He recalled meeting her while filming the Heroes pilot, when she greeted him by shouting "daddy" and throwing her arms around him.
That first meeting became the start of an affectionate offscreen relationship. Panettiere called Coleman "daddio," while he nicknamed her "Haydini" because, as he put it, "she was a magician," according to Entertainment Weekly's report on his tribute.
But Coleman's memories also turned to the darker side of Panettiere's rise. He described watching a 16-year-old become the target of invasive photographers and provocative questions as her public profile exploded, leaving him with anger over how little protection she received.
Coleman said he recognized Panettiere's unusual ability almost immediately. During an early scene, he noticed that a tear rolled down her cheek on exactly the same line through repeated takes. He complimented what he ****** umed was an impressive acting technique.

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