Hayden Panettiere, Citizen of Daydream Nation

Hayden Panettiere, cast as teen wit. 

News from The Hollywood Reporter: Hayden Panettiere is set to star in Daydream Nation, a coming of age comedy from writer-first time director Michael Goldbach. Kieran Culkin has also been cast (though at age 25 going on 26, one would hope that Kieran has already come of age).

The producers claim that this movie will “reinvent the coming-of-age story for the 21st century,” calling it an “intellectual comedy a la Juno and Election.” 

(Which of course, begs the question of why they are casting Hayden Panettiere, who doesn’t exactly project “intellectual.” I don’t know anything about what she’s like in real life other than that she seems to go to lots of parties, shows up frequently in the gossip pages, and seems to make remarks that are typical of a not very mature teen. But I’m sure that’s not the whole picture; for all I know, she might spend her downtime from Heroes reading Schopenhauer and studying theology. I’m just saying onscreen she doesn’t seem like a natural for “intellectual.”)

According to the producers, Panettiere will play “an acerbic teen, and Culkin will be her oblivious boyfriend.”

(Okay, I take back all benefit of the doubt that I may have had–if anyone can produce any solid evidence of Hayden Panettiere making an acerbic remark, let alone knowing the meaning of the word, I will give you a prize. Probably candy.)