Press teleconference with Hayden Panettiere, Part 2 (Spoilers)
In a continuation of last week's post, here are more questions answered by Hayden Panettiere.
A word of warning that the following questions and answers may be considered "spoilery" to some.
Fred Topel, Crave Online: Jack Coleman told me that HRG is sort of back up to his old tricks in Season 2. How do you feel about that dynamic coming back?
HP: Well, I think we all have proven that in this show, we all have our dirty little secrets.
Him going back, you know -- I think him becoming the house dad, you know, wouldn’t be very exciting. The good dad, you know, people like watching good bad people and you sometimes want to hate Jack’s character and you sometimes, you know, love him. And it’s kind of a toss-up, depending on what side you're on.
But how do I feel about that? I think it’s exciting. I think it’s exciting for him. I'm not sure if that’s exactly what’s going to happen, but, you know, as I said, everyone always has their dirty little secrets. But I'm excited to see what happens with everyone.
I wish I could turn bad. I’d turn bad in a second. I’d be like, “Yeah.” I’d be the villain.
Matt Mitovich, TVGuide.com: When Season 2 picks up, where is it in Claire’s life that we find her, and how do we build up to this new relationship with the new guy, West?
HP: Well, it’s four months from where we left off last season. And Claire is really trying to be, you know -- just trying to get in touch with her inner teen self once again, you know. She hasn’t given that up, and I think it’d be a sad thing if she did.
And she’s – you know, struggling to fit in but not stand out and, you know, obviously they’re still hiding and running from these people. And West -- you know, I think the funny thing about Claire is that she’s really -- as much as she has that beautiful naivete about her and as sweet as she is, she does have that spitfire. She has that -- yeah, that sass about her. And so it’s fun to watch her.
But I think when she meets West – I mean, you guys will see.
Matt Mitovich: So we’re going to see her meeting him -- they’re not already together yet, or anything like that?
HP: No, no. It’s a gradual meeting, yes. It’s teenage angst.
Paige Albiniak, New York Post: I'm just wondering, you guys are allegedly getting two new villains this year. Do you know anything about them that you could tell us, and how is it possible to be worse than Sylar?
HP: Oh, it’s possible. I think there’s – I think there’s one hint, actually, in the first season.
Paige Albiniak: The Bogey Man -- with Molly?
HP: Maybe.
But it’s definitely possible to be worse than Sylar. You know, I think – I think Sylar, you know, Sylar, looking back, he was a pretty good seemingly person. He was just kind of lost in the beginning when, you know, you first found them and then went crazy – (loopy loosey) -- on us.
But I -- they’ll be bad, they’ll be real bad.
Paige Albiniak: These villains are more globally minded than Sylar. Because Sylar was pretty just out for himself.
HP: I think they’re freakier in a different way. I think it’s kind of a mindtrip, you know. And in a way, you know, Sylar is very physical. And these characters are just creepier. From what I've seen of them, from what I've heard about them. I have absolutely no idea otherwise.
Ann Oldenburg, USA Today: Just wondering if there’s anything more you can tell us without spoiling anything about Claire for Season 2. I take it she’s still a cheerleader?
HP: Well, well, not in Odessa anymore. I wouldn’t say goodbye to the cheerleading outfit quite yet, but she’s not in that one anymore.
Ann Oldenburg: Anything else in terms of her growth? I know you said she’s matured and she’ll have a boyfriend, I guess.
HP: Well, I think – you know, this season she’s really looking to -- to figure out more about her powers, more about what she can do, how far she can push it, what happens when she does it.
And, you know, there are still some unanswered questions for her about her ability, whether -- you know, how far her pain tolerance can go or if she can actually die, if something happens. I think we've actually figured that one out by now, that, you know, there’s a specific spot that if you - you know, like Peter, we saw Peter in the first season, he had a shard of glass in the back of his head and not until we pulled it out did he come back to life. But the question is, you know, how long can he survive with that piece of glass in his head before he can't regenerate anymore.
So I think she’s really just pushing to find answers, pushing to find answers and, you know, that’s all I've seen her doing so far. I mean that’s one of the things I've seen her doing. But on that level, she’s just trying to figure out who she is and what she’s doing and what she wants to do with her life and her ability.
David Winnick, Wizard Magazine: I actually was wondering -- since we saw that Peter and Nathan are still alive, for those of who went to Comic Con -- is there going to be an attempt on Claire’s part to get back with them and create more of a family than previously, you know, what with her attempt to find them in the first place?
HP: I have absolutely no idea quite yet. We have not gotten that far. They’re dealing with – both dealing with really interesting storylines.
So -- it could be a little bit, but I'm sure she hasn’t seen the last of the Petrelli’s. It is her family.
