Read it: Hayden Panettiere

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

"THE LESS BLOODY I have to be, the better for me," actress

Hayden Panettiere said in a recent phone chat. "As long as it has to

do with a stunt, that's the way I like to die."

Panettiere should know: She died or came close to it often as the

indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet on NBC's "Heroes." But

her next character has much more to worry about.

Panettiere appears in "Scream 4," which hits theaters Friday. Not

only is she no longer immortal, but now there's a killer coming after

her and her comely buddies.

"There's something so scary about that mask," she said. "Halloween

masks nowadays, they're just so gruesome and gory. But there's

something so simplistic and eerie and creepy about that mask."

In the four-quel, Panettiere appears alongside series familiars like

Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette

and newbies like Emma Roberts and Rory Culkin. Panettiere

plays the brassy Kirby. "She's got this tomboy edge to her, this dry

sarcastic sense of humor, but she's still one of the girls," Panettiere

said. "But then underneath, she's this horror-movie buff, which is

not what you expect from her."

The movie picks up when the oft-targeted Sydney (Campbell)

returns to her hometown on a book tour and Ghostface comes out to

play once more.

Want to feel old? Dig this: Panettiere was only 7 when the original

"Scream" flick was released in 1996. But she loves that this isn't a

total reboot and includes some oldheads like Cox and Campbell. "I

love that they did that; they respect where this film came from,"

Panettiere said.

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