Hayden Panettiere Is Responsible For An Iconic TV Quote Still Being Used Today

Published Aug 28, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT

Ben is a Senior Writer on the New TV team at Screen Rant. He graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class B.A. Degree in English Literature and History.

Born and raised in Ireland, Ben has always had a love for storytelling in all forms of media and operates multiple projects under the name Benjamin Blogs. Ben is a comic book writer and podcast host, in addition to his work as an entertainment journalist. He has worked as both a writer and editor for Screen Rant, Collider, and other media outlets across various departments, including features, news, reviews, and interviews.

While the most recent show that she starred in, Nashville wrapped in 2018, Panettiere continued to have a thriving career, appearing in major feature films and exploring new projects and roles. However, Panettiere's breakout role in Heroes as Claire Bennet served as not only a launchpad for Hayden Panettiere's career, but the basis for some of the most quotable lines of her entire body of work.

As the invincible cheerleader with accelerated healing and the ability to come back from the dead as long as a large foreign object doesn't occupy the same space as vital organs, Claire was one of the most compelling parts of the entire series, and her role provided the show with one of the most quotable lines of the series.

"Save The Cheerleader, Save The World" Would Mean Nothing If Hayden Panettiere Didn't Make Us Care About The Cheerleader

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Very early in Heroes' run, the audience is presented with a compelling mystery about an apocalyptic event that could utterly alter life as we know it. However, at the same moment that we see this horrifying future, we also learn that the key appears to be an unsuspecting and unassuming cheerleader.

Claire Bennet largely led an ordinary life, making friends, dating, and living out her best years as a popular young woman. However, when she discovered that she could endure extraordinary levels of pain and rapidly heal from anything that ails her, Claire immediately sets out to investigate.

As a result, the cheerleader in question ends up being this wonderful, layered girl who is simultaneously captivated by her newfound abilities and afraid and anxious about what would happen if her secret got out. All of this combined to create one of the most charming and endearing young characters on TV, and it immediately hooked audiences with the whole "Save the cheerleader, save the world" bit, because we cared about Claire.

Even as the series continued and suffered badly due to writers' strikes and turmoil in the production, Claire's presence was able to alter a scene. And her connections to the others made for an incredibly compelling TV show that took the world by storm in its first seasons.

Even When Heroes Got Bad, Hayden Panettiere's Claire Remained Interesting

As referenced above, Heroes had a strong trajectory from the start. With an incredible cast of actors bringing a bunch of contrasting figures together, and the world-building in the series creating something worth latching onto, Heroes earned a lot of love and loyalty fast. But it wasn't long before things started falling apart.

After the first season of Heroes, it seemed as though some new and noteworthy plots were shelved and forgotten; meanwhile, new discordant narratives were developed, leaving several narratives unresolved and creating gaping holes in the story that threatened the show's success and ultimately led to the series' demise after season 4.

But in the face of a storyline that was on a rapid decline and a growing number of issues in the show, Claire always remained a bright spot in the series. As her relationships evolved and she connected with the other characters in the story, Claire stood out as one of the very best characters in the entire show.

Ultimately, Hayden Panettiere's time as the cheerleader in Heroes made for a compelling science-fiction story that continues to influence, inspire, and entertain, with one of the most immediately recognizable lines in television, and none of that would have been possible without Hayden Panettiere's stellar performance.

Release Date 2006 - 2010-00-00

Showrunner Tim Kring

Directors Allan Arkush, Jeannot Szwarc, Adam Kane, Greg Yaitanes, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Roxann Dawson, Paul A. Edwards, John Badham, Donna Deitch, Kevin Dowling, Seith Mann, Ron Underwood, Paul Shapiro, Lesli Linka Glatter, S.J. Clarkson, Daniel Attias, David Straiton, Kevin Bray, David Semel, Holly Dale, Ed Bianchi, Nathaniel Goodman, Christopher Misiano, Ernest R. Dickerson

Writers Tim Kring

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  Hayden Panettiere

  Ezekiel

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