Happy Birthday! Hayden Panettiere Turns 27 Years Old Today

Happy birthday, Hayden Panettiere! The actress turns 27 years old today.

The New-York native was born in August 1989 to parents Lesley and Alan Lee. She was raised alongside her younger brother Jansen and began her professional acting career when she was only 11-months-old. Her debut came in the form of a Playskool TV advertisement, and Hayden would go on to pursue her career through various soap operas like One Life to Live and Guiding Light.

However, fans will most likely recognize Hayden from her work on NBC's Heroes. Created by Tim Kring, the show follows a series of super-powered individuals as they wrestle with their gifts. Hayden portrayed Claire Bennet, a high school cheerleader who has regenerative healing powers. The character still stands as one of the most well-known of the series, and Hayden's work on the show was praised by both fans and critics. Her starring role also led Hayden to take part in comic book and pop culture conventions, making her a fan-favorite actress for Heroes fan everywhere.

Most recently, Hayden has appeared on the ABC's Nashville as Juliette Barnes. Once ABC picked up the series, Hayden found herself co-starring alongside actors such as Connie Britton and Burgess Jenkins. Not too long ago, new broke that ABC had decided to cancel the series, but CMT and Hulu were able to continue the series into a fifth season.

And, while her on-screen appearance are well-document, some gamers may be surprised to learn of Hayden's voice acting gigs. The actress voices Kairi from Kingdom Hearts, one of Square Enix's iconic RPG franchises. And, last year, gamers might have noticed one of Until Dawn's characters looked a lot like Hayden. The actress both voiced and modeled Sam, one of the game's main characters who finds herself trapped at a monster-infested lodge.

Happy birthday, Hayden! We hope it's a good one!