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Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas, to
Herbert Daniel Hewitt and Patricia Mae Shipp. Her father is a technician
and her mother worked as a speech-language pathologist. Hewitt grew up in
Nolanville, Texas. After the divorce of her parents, Hewitt and her only
sibling, Todd Hewitt, were brought up by her mother. Her first name was
given to her by her brother, after a girl he was fond of as a youngster,
while her middle name, "Love", was given to her by her mother after her
best friend in college.
As a young girl, Hewitt was attracted to music which led to her first
encounters with the entertainment industry. At the age of three, she sang
"The Greatest Love of All" at a livestock show. Just a year after that, at
a restaurant-dance hall, she entertained an audience with her version of
"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). 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.
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 variety show Kids Incorporated (1989–1991). In 1992, she
played 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, but the series wasn't picked up and
the pilot never aired. She later played on television in several
short-lived series, such as Fox's Shaky 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.
She continued the same role in the short-lived Party of Five spin-off,
Time of Your Life (1999). Hewitt was also one of the producers, but the
show was cancelled after only half a season.
She made her film debut in the independent film Munchie (1992). Hewitt
became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You
Did Last Summer (1997). 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), which wasn't as successful as
the first one. Other notable film roles included the high-school comedy
Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and a starring role with Sigourney Weaver in the
romantic comedy Heartbreakers (2001).
Jennifer Love Hewitt was considered for the role of Paige Matthews on the
WB hit Series Charmed but actress Rose McGowan was given the
role.[citation needed] In 2000, Hewitt appeared in The Audrey Hepburn
Story. That same year, she was the "most popular actress on television"
due to her Q-rating (a measurement of a celebrity's popularity) of
thirty-seven. For that reason, Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson,
because of her "fresh image", and her being "a symbol of youthfulness and
wholesomeness".
In 2001, she appeared in the music video for the Enrique Iglesias song,
Hero as the singer's love interest.
In 2002, she was paired with Jackie Chan in the action comedy The Tuxedo,
which was a box office hit.
Hewitt wrote I'm Gonna Love You for the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame
II because, although she was a well-known singer at the time, her
character Madellaine was the only character who didn't sing in the movie.
The song won an award for Best Song on DVD Awards.
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 9-11 million viewers
for each new episode.
Hewitt has also auditioned for many roles. She lost the role of "Juliet"
in Romeo + Juliet to Claire Danes at the last moment. She also had to give
up the role of "Darlene" in Brokedown Palace because of scheduling
conflicts. Hewitt also auditioned for the role of "Elektra" in Daredevil.
To date, she has released four albums with some success, most notably in
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."
Hewitt contributes to charity. She is known as "godmother" of the Audrey
Hepburn Children's Fund.
On a September 21, 2006 appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, she
expressed her desire to be a spokesperson for Sizzler.
Hewitt has been dating actor Ross McCall since January 2006. She has also
dated singer-guitarist John Mayer, talk show host Carson Daly, and
actor/model Kip Pardue. |
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[In a Playboy interview, Love
commented about her breasts] "I just accepted them as a great
accessory to every outfit".
"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.'"
"I don't consider myself a great dresser either. But I try. Most of
the time I'm in khakis and a white T-shirt. I'm a total Gap girl.
Super casual, hair in a pony tail and no makeup." - in response to
being voted as one of the Worst Dressed by People magazine.
"We had this joke on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer
(1997). All the girls wore tiny tops, so we called it "I Know What
Your Breasts Did Last Summer"."
"I try to find things that are insanely cheap and brilliant. My
Bonne Bell lip gloss is about 75 cents, and I have worn it as my
lipstick to almost every main event in Hollywood in the past two
years." - quoted in Woman's World (27 December 2005)
"I would just love once to be called sexy. Just because it would
make me something other than cute." |
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She Had Brains, a Body, and
the Ability to Make Men Love Her (2008) (announced)
"Angry Little Girls" (2008) TV Series (pre-production) (voice) ....
Deborah
The Magic 7 (2008) (TV) (post-production) (voice) .... Erica
Delgo (2007) (post-production) (voice) .... Princess Kyla
"Ghost Whisperer" .... Melinda Gordon (44 episodes, 2005-2007)
- The Gathering (2007) TV Episode .... Melinda Gordon
- The Prophet (2007) TV Episode .... Melinda Gordon
- The Collector (2007) TV Episode .... Melinda Gordon
- Delia's First Ghost (2007) TV Episode .... Melinda Gordon
- Children of Ghosts (2007) TV Episode .... Melinda Gordon
(39 more)
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) .... Liz
... aka Garfield 2 (Australia) (Singapore: English title) (UK) (USA:
working title)
In the Game (2005) (TV) .... Riley Reed
Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber (2005) (TV) .... Katya
Livingston
... aka The Social Climber (UK: DVD title)
A Christmas Carol (2004) (TV) .... Emily
... aka A Christmas Carol: The Musical (USA)
Garfield (2004) .... Liz
... aka Garfield: The Movie (USA: promotional title)
The Devil and Daniel Webster (2004) .... The Devil
... aka Shortcut to Happiness (USA: new title)
"American Dreams" .... Nancy Sinatra (2 episodes, 2004)
... aka Our Generation (Australia) (USA: working title)
- Old Enough to Fight (2004) TV Episode .... Nancy Sinatra
- The 7-10 Split (2004) TV Episode .... Nancy Sinatra
If Only (2004) .... Samantha Andrews
The Truth About Love (2004) .... Alice Holbrook
In the Game (2004) (TV) .... Riley Reed
Groove Squad (2002) (V) (voice) .... Chrissy
... aka Groove Squad Cheerleaders (Australia: TV title)
The Tuxedo (2002) .... Del Blaine
The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina (2002) (V) (voice) ....
Thumbelina
The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002) (V) (voice) .... Madellaine
Heartbreakers (2001) .... Page Conners
"Time of Your Life" .... Sarah Reeves Merrin (21 episodes,
1999-2000)
- The Time They Were Scared of the City (2000) TV Episode .... Sarah
Reeves Merrin
- The Time Everything Changed (2000) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves
Merrin
- The Time They Got E-Rotic (2000) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves
Merrin
- The Time She Turned 21 (2000) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves Merrin
- The Time They Decided to Date (2000) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves
Merrin
(16 more)
The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) (TV) .... Audrey Hepburn
"Party of Five" .... Sarah Reeves (98 episodes, 1995-1999)
- Bye, Bye, Love (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves
- Naked (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves
- Don't Let Go (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves
- Otherwise Engaged (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves
- Haunted (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Reeves
(93 more)
The Suburbans (1999) .... Cate
"Hercules" .... Medusa (1 episode, 1999)
... aka Disney's Hercules (USA: complete title)
- Hercules and the Gorgon (1999) TV Episode (voice) .... Medusa
"Saturday Night Live" .... Host (1 episode, 1998)
... aka NBC's Saturday Night (USA: first season title)
... aka SNL (USA: informal title)
... aka SNL 25 (USA: alternative title)
... aka Saturday Night (USA: second season title)
... aka Saturday Night Live '80 (USA: sixth season title)
- Jennifer Love Hewitt/Beastie Boys (1998) TV Episode .... Host
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) .... Julie James
Zoomates (1998) (voice) .... Helen
Telling You (1998) .... Deb Freidman
... aka Love Sucks (UK: video title)
Can't Hardly Wait (1998) .... Amanda Beckett
"Boy Meets World" .... Jennifer Love Fefferman (1 episode, 1998)
- And Then There Was Shawn (1998) TV Episode .... Jennifer Love
Fefferman
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) .... Julie James
Trojan War (1997) .... Leah Jones
... aka Rescue Me
House Arrest (1996) .... Brooke Figler
"McKenna" (1994) TV Series .... Cassidy McKenna (unknown episodes,
1994-1995)
"The Byrds of Paradise" (1994) TV Series .... Franny Byrd (unknown
episodes)
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) (as Jennifer "Love" Hewitt)
.... Margaret
Little Miss Millions (1993) (as Love Hewitt) .... Heather Lofton
... aka Home for Christmas (USA: video title)
... aka Little Miss Zillions
"Shaky Ground" (1992) TV Series .... Bernadette Moody (unknown
episodes, 1992-1993)
Munchie (1992) (as Love Hewitt) .... Andrea Kurtz
"Running Wilde" (1992) TV Series
"Kids Incorporated" .... Robin (1 episode, 1989-1991)
... aka Kids Inc. (USA: short title)
- Double Trouble (1991) TV Episode (as Love Hewitt) .... Robin |
