United Kingdom, May 1 -- Hayden Panettiere "desperately needed" to take time out of work.

The 35-year-old actress rose to fame as a teenager when she starred on the superhero series 'Heroes' and remained on screen consistently for a number of years but as she returns to the spotlight in new film 'A Breed Apart', admitted that her time away meant she could explore new things upon her comeback.

She told UsWeekly: "I had taken four years off. Didn't know or plan to, but that's just the way it panned out.

"And I desperately needed it.

"It happened organically. The things that I've done before . it was just different enough that I felt like it was a blank canvas that I could paint onto anything I wanted on.

"And now try to take my career ...