Might Claire Bennet be going all Sylar on us in season two of Heroes?

It's doubtful. But that would be the case if it were up to Hayden Panettiere.

Panettiere's desire to play a villain stems from her typecasting as a pretty, blond cheerleader. It's one she's growing tired of.

"When you're blond, you don't play villains unless you're Sharon Stone," Pannettiere said. "It would be just exciting for me. People look at me as very sweet sometimes, and I say, 'I would never in a million years describe myself as sweet.' But I think it would be a blast. I think it's so much more fun to be bad."

Zachary Quinto would probably agree with that sentiment.

Speaking of villains, the second season will come with its own roster of new evil-doers, but how could they possibly be worse than Sylar, Hayden?

"Oh, it's possible," Panettiere teased, explaining that there are at least two new villains in the coming season, one of which will be the "boogeyman" Molly Walker hinted at towards the end of last season. Panettiere said the new villains are "freakier in a different way, kind of a mind trip."

Overall, this young actress says her character has changed a lot already. In what ways?

"I think she really grew up. If you guys don't have kids or haven't noticed, teenagers are selfish, and I will vouch for that. She wanted what any teenager would want, she wanted to be normal, she wanted to be popular, she wanted to date the quarterback of the football team," Panettiere said.

"And over time she realized that by dismissing her power like that, that she was risking a lot of people's lives, and that there was so much more she could do if she just came to terms with that. And she just really evolved, really grew up, learned to stand her own and stick up for herself. She matured, and hopefully she'll keep doing that."

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.