Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) might be well-known for her roles in the Fox television series "Party of Five," as Sarah Reeves from 1995 to 1999, and also her role in the I Know What You Did Last Summer films, but she is just as well known for her natural physical attributes, her breasts, which she has referred to as “a great accessory to every outfit,” and for her exceedingly sweet and sincere demeanor.

Currently, she can be seen on the CBS television series “Ghost Whisperer,” as Melinda Gordon, a young newlywed who communicates with the dead. She is also credited with being a singer; her 1999 hit, "How Do I Deal" reached twenty-six on the American charts.

Early Life and Career

Hewitt’s first name was given to her by her brother, after a girl of whom he was fond as a youngster, while her middle name, "Love", was given to her by her mother after her best friend in college. Born in Waco, Texas to Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a techintian and Patricia Mae, a speech pathologist; however, she grew up in Harker Heights, Texas. Her mother is Italian, her father is German.

After the divorce of her parents when she was only 6 months old, Hewitt and her only sibling, Todd Hewitt, were brought up by her mother.

Hewitt was attracted to music from the start and her passion led to her first encounters with the entertainment industry. At the age of three, she sang "The Greatest Love of All" (as recorded by Whitney Houston) at a livestock show. At the age of 4 while at a restaurant-dance hall she disappeared from her family, and was later found on the stage singing "Help Me make It Through The Night." By the time she was five, Hewitt already had tap dancing and ballet in her portfolio. At nine, she became a member of the Texas Show Team (which also toured in the Soviet Union), and at the age of ten, at the suggestion of talent scouts, she moved to Los Angeles, California, with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing.

She is quoted as saying, “When I came to Los Angeles, it was the first time that I ever felt like I belonged somewhere. Not because it was wacky, but because people here understood what I felt like to perform, and there were other kids my age who wanted to do it. I didn't get looked at as, 'God, you freak.'"

After moving to Los Angeles, Hewitt appeared in more than twenty television commercials. Her first break came as a child actor on the Disney Channel’s “Kids Incorporated” from 1989 to 1991. The show focused on a group of musically talented children. While working on the show, Hewitt also appeared in commercials for products such as Mattel and L.A. Gear. She put her dancing talents to use as an L.A. Gear dancer, and strutted her stuff at trade shows in Japan and Paris.

In 1991 she flexed in a Barbie dance workout video, and exercised her voice by singing the songs included on the video. One year later, Love Songs, Hewitt's first album, was released in Japan (not in the U.S.).

In 1992, she tried her hand at more television roles, one playing Pierce Brosnan's daughter in a pilot for NBC called “Running Wilde,” which featured Brosnan as a reporter for Auto World magazine whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures; however, the series was never picked up and the pilot never aired. She later played on television in several short-lived series, such as Fox's “Shakey Ground” (1992–1993), ABC's “Byrds of Paradise” (1994), and “McKenna” (1994–1995). Finally, Hewitt became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves on the popular Fox Television show “Party of Five” (1995–1999), joining the cast during its second season with Neve Campbell, Scott Wolf, Matthew Fox, Lacey Chabert, and Jeremy London. She continued the same role in the short-lived “Party of Five” spinoff, “Time of Your Life” (1999). Hewitt was also one of the producers, but the show was cancelled after only half a season.

Film and Music Career

She made her film debut in the independent film Munchie (1992), though she lost the role of Juliet in Romeo + Juliet (1996) to Claire Danes because the director felt she wasn't "modern" enough.

She became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Apparently, there was a running joke that accompanied the movie: "We had this joke on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer. All the girls wore tiny tops, so we called it I Know What Your Breasts Did Last Summer." The film had great box-office appeal (125,000,000 U.S. dollars worldwide), and Hewitt became one of the most popular young stars in the USA (together with her co-stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar).
She also played in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).

Other notable film roles included the high-school comedy Can't Hardly Wait, also starring Ethan Embry, Seth Greeen, Lauren Ambrose, and Jay Paulson (1998) and a starring role with Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy hit Heartbreakers (2001).

In 2000, Hewitt appeared in The Audrey Hepburn Story, as the engenue herself.

Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson, because of her "fresh image", and her being "a symbol of youthfulness and wholesomeness". In 2002, she was paired with Jackie Chan in the action comedy The Tuxedo which was, however stupidly entertaining, a box office and critical bomb. For this role, Hewitt was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Actress in a movie that year.

Since September 2005, Hewitt has starred in the television series "Ghost Whisperer." In Australia, "Ghost Whisperer" has been popular since its introduction; in the United States, the show averages 9-10 million viewers for each new episode.

To date, she has released four albums – Love Songs in 1992, Let's Go Bang in 1995, Jennifer Love Hewitt in 1996, and BareNaked in 2002, which was produced by singer/songwriter Meredith Brooks – with some success, most notably in Europe and Japan. Her first album was released in Japan, where she is widely considered a pop star. Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better.”

In March 2005, Hewitt was featured in Maxim magazine and their Girls of Maxim gallery. In May 2006, the magazine named her #29 in their Hot 100 list. She was ranked #11 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" in 2002, and named #32 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list. She has stated, “I would just love once to be called sexy. Just because it would make me something other than cute,” and with all those nominations, it looks like her wish has come true.

In 2005, Jennifer Love Hewitt appeared in a Hanes advertising campaign titled "Look who we've got our Hanes on now". The campaign also featured other celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Marisa Tomei, Damon Wayans, Matthew Perry, and on Spanish-language advertising, Aracely Arambula, and Pablo Montero. In 2006, the campaign added Kevin Bacon and Christina Applegate to their lineup.

Jennifer Love Hewitt has also appeared in a Don't Mess With Texas commercial.

Personal Life

Hewitt is known for being exceedingly sweet and wholesome. She once sent 3 dozen pink roses to Gwyneth Paltrow the night before Paltrow won the Oscar for Shakespeare in Love in 1999. Hewitt also wrote her a two page letter praising her as a role model and admiring her work. Paltrow sent a reply a week later, and Hewitt framed it - "it's my favorite thing." When the two actresses met for the first time at the 2000 Golden Globes, "she came up to me and gave me a hug for the flowers. I thought I was going to pass out. I was absolutely going to have a heart attack."

She briefly dated actor Wilmer Valderrama in 1999 who has said in an interview with Howard Stern that she was an “eight out of ten” in bed. She also dated Rich Cronin of LFO from 1999-2001.

She dated singer John Mayer, and apparently was his inspirtion for the song entitled, “Your Body is a Wonderland.” She has been dating actor Ross McCall since January 2006.
Recently her weight has been a topic of the supermarket tabloids, who have incesently commented about the growing size of her waistline.

Charity Work

Not just another pretty face, Hewitt has proven to be a beautiful person inside and out by donating her time and services to various charities. Hewitt supports many worth while organizations including Rock the Vote and Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF).