“She brought joy to the set and a photographic memory. Everyone was in awe of her ability to bring it every take,” Jack Coleman wrote of his onscreen daughter.

Hayden Panettiere’s Heroes dad pays emotional tribute to late actress, says she was ‘hunted’ by paparazzi

“She brought joy to the set and a photographic memory. Everyone was in awe of her ability to bring it every take,” Jack Coleman wrote of his onscreen daughter.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

EW's editorial guidelines

August 19, 2026 6:31 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Jack Coleman as HRG and Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet on ‘Heroes’. Credit:

Chris Haston/NBC

- Jack Coleman, who was Hayden Panettiere’s father on *Heroes*, is speaking out following her death.

- “That shining face, that megawatt smile, that wasn’t just for the camera. That was her. She glowed,” he wrote on Instagram.

- Panettiere died on Aug. 16 at 36. An investigation into her death remains active and ongoing.

Hayden Panettiere’s *Heroes** *father, Jack Coleman, is remembering his onscreen daughter.

Coleman, who portrayed Noah Bennet a.k.a. HRG to Panettiere’s Claire, penned an emotional tribute on Instagram, praising her talent and reflecting on how she was treated by the paparazzi. Panettiere died on Sunday, Aug. 16, at 36 in Greenville, S.C. An investigation into her death remains active and ongoing, and the results of her toxicology report could take several weeks.

“I’m heartbroken. I couldn’t begin to put my thoughts into words until now, and they will be inadequate,” he began his post, which included photos of them together on the NBC drama series.

“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 continued.

“She was a prodigious talent,” he added. “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.”

Coleman said that she was “routinely asked obnoxious questions” in the realm of “when are you going to go off the rails?”

“Today, we’d recognize those questions for the misogynistic provocations they were,” he wrote.

Gayle King calls out Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mom for comments after her death

Connie Britton pays tribute to her late ‘Nashville’ costar Hayden Panettiere

He then alleged that Panettiere was relentlessly “hunted” by the paparazzi, “the kind that can make even the most innocent activity look sinister.”

Coleman recalled an incident when the paparazzi hid in the bushes behind his yard and drove onto the neighbor’s lawns. “They were predatory. No one, especially a teenager, should be targeted that way,” he wrote.

The actor then gushed about the energy Panettiere had on the set of *Heroes*. “She brought joy to the set and a photographic memory. Everyone was in awe of her ability to bring it every take. A tiny colossus who loved to laugh. We laughed a lot. That shining face, that megawatt smile, that wasn’t just for the camera. That was her. She glowed,” he shared.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

“Today I’m filled with sorrow and regret. And anger. But that’s for another time,” he continued, noting that he wanted to remember “an extraordinary young woman who was blessed and cursed.”

Coleman wrote that “she was vulnerable. She felt everything. It made her a remarkable actor and susceptible to the heartache and thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”

He added, “I love you, Hayden. I’ll miss you. I’m so sorry you suffered. I’ll remember how happy you were on set and on the European press tour; how you championed [my daughter] Tess when she was being bullied; your commitment to animal welfare and the courage to put yourself in harm’s way to protect them. I only wish you had been given that same protection.”

Coleman concluded his tribute, “Good night, sweet girl. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

Hayden Panettiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in September 2022.

Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Four years before her death, Panettiere reflected on her time on the NBC drama, which ran from 2006 to 2010. “My saving grace is that I couldn’t be messy while on-set and working,” the late actress told PEOPLE during a 2022 interview. “But things just kept getting out of control [off-set]. And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”

She also called appearing on the show “liberating, like a full-body release,” in her tell-all memoir *This Is Me: A Reckoning*.

*If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at **988lifeline.org** 24/7.*

*If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.*

- Celebrities & Creators

- Celebrity Death Tributes

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Celebrity”