Born February 21, 1979 (age 32)
Origin Waco, Texas, United States
Genres Pop, soul
Occupations Actress, singer, songwriter, director, producer, author, voice actress
Years active 1989–present
Labels Atlantic (1995-1996), Jive (2002)
As a singer, Hewitt has been signed by Atlantic Records and Jive Records. She is primarily known for her recordings in the pop genre. Her most successful single on the Billboard Hot 100 is the 1999 release "How Do I Deal", which peaked at No. 59. In addition, she has contributed music to the promotion or soundtracks of acting projects.
Hewitt's appearance has been the subject of media attention throughout her career. She has been lauded as one of the most attractive women in the entertainment industry by publications such as Maxim, in which she was named the sexiest woman in the world in 1999, and TV Guide, which named her the sexiest woman on television in 2008. In 2007, paparazzi photos of Hewitt on a beach led to a much-publicized matter in which she defended her weight, and was supported by other celebrities. These incidents received coverage from People magazine.
In addition to acting, Hewitt has also served as a producer on some of her film and television projects. In 2010, Hewitt wrote a book on relationships entitled The Day I Shot Cupid. She also starred on the hit CBS television program Ghost Whisperer as Melinda Gordon, a young woman who can communicate with ghosts. She won a Saturn Award in 2007 and 2008 for Best Actress on Television. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her television movie The Client List.
Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas, and is the daughter of Patricia Mae (née Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician. Hewitt grew up in Nolanville, Texas. After the divorce of her parents, Hewitt and her older brother, Todd Hewitt, were brought up by her mother. She is of German, Italian and English descent.
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 and winning the title of Texas Our Little Miss Talent Winner, she moved to Los Angeles, with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing. In Los Angeles, Hewitt attended Lincoln High School where her classmates included Jonathan Neville, who became a talent scout and recommended Hewitt for her role in Party of Five.
Acting career
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), where she was credited as just Love Hewitt. During this time she danced in and sang all the songs for a live action video called Dance! Workout with Barbie released by Buena Vista.
In 1993, 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. However, the series was not picked up and the pilot never aired. Hewitt later had roles in several short-lived television series, such as Fox's Shaky Ground (1992–1993), ABC's The Byrds of Paradise (1994), and McKenna (1994–1995), and finally became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves on the popular Fox Television show Party of Five (1995–1999). She assumed the role of Sarah after joining that show during its second season and continued it on the short-lived Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life (1999), which she also co-produced. The show was cancelled after half a season.
Hewitt made her film debut in the independent film Munchie (1992). She appeared as a choir member in "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" (1993) with Whoopi Goldberg and Lauryn Hill. She became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), which enjoyed great box-office success ($125,000,000 USD). The film gained Hewitt and her co-stars Freddie Prinze, Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar popularity. She appeared in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), which, though not as successful as the first film, took in more money on its opening weekend. Other notable film roles include the high-school comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and a starring role with Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy Heartbreakers (2001).
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 37. 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. She also appeared in the LFO video for "Girl on TV".
Hewitt wrote "I'm Gonna Love You" for the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame II because, although she was a well-known singer, her character Madellaine was the only character who did not sing in the movie. The song won Best Song at the DVD Awards.
She also starred alongside Jackie Chan in the 2002 film The Tuxedo.
In September 2005, Hewitt starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer. In Australia, Ghost Whisperer has been popular since its introduction; in the United States, the show averaged 7.75 million viewers for its final season on CBS, which canceled the series in 2010. ABC expressed interest in picking up the show and asked the writers to not take new jobs, as the series had a good chance of returning. However, ABC later decided not to renew the show.
Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy starred in Cafe, an indie drama from writer-director Marc Erlbaum. Alexa Vega, Madeline Carroll, Daniel Eric Gold and Hubble Palmer appear as part of an ensemble of Philadelphia residents who frequent the local West Philly Grounds coffee shop where Hewitt's character Claire works.
On January 14, 2011, it was announced that Hewitt will direct the film Wait Till Helen Comes based on the novel by Mary Downing Hahn. This will be Hewitt's feature film directorial debut, she previously directed three episodes of Ghost Whisperer.
On January 30, 2011, Hewitt starred with Betty White in the Hallmark Hall of Fame film The Lost Valentine, shown on CBS in the US. She was also a co-producer of the film.
Music career
Hewitt in 2002
In 1991, Meldac funded the recording of Hewitt's first album Love Songs, when she was 12. The album was only released in Japan in 1992 where Hewitt became a pop star. Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better."
After she joined the cast of Party of Five in 1995, she signed to Atlantic Records, who rushed her first single and second album, Let's Go Bang, out in October.
Juggling her music career with her acting career, she recorded her follow-up in 1996. The first single, "No Ordinary Love", failed to chart and led to the album doing the same. Atlantic dropped Hewitt, who did not return to the music scene for three years.
In 1999, she recorded the single "How Do I Deal" for the I Still Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack. The song became Hewitt's first charting single by climbing to No. 59 on the Hot 100 and No. 36 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It reached No. 8 in Australia.
In 2001, Hewitt appeared in Enrique Iglesias's "Hero" music video.
In 2002, Hewitt signed to Jive Records and recorded her fourth album with singer, songwriter and producer Meredith Brooks. The first single, "BareNaked", became her biggest radio hit to date when it peaked at No. 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, No. 31 on the Adult Top 40 and No. 25 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It also climbed to No. 6 in Australia and No. 33 in the Netherlands. The moderate success of the single propelled her album of the same name to peak at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 and No. 31 in Australia. However, it only remained on the chart for three weeks. The second single, "Can I Go Now", failed to chart in the US, while managing to peak at No. 8 in the Netherlands and No. 12 in Australia.
Since 2003, Hewitt has not actively done anything in the music industry, but a compilation called Cool with You: The Platinum Collection was released in Asia.
In addition to starring in the 2004 film If Only, Hewitt co-wrote and performed two songs for its soundtrack: "Love Will Show You Everything" and "Take My Heart Back". She appeared in the 2004 made-for-television musical version of A Christmas Carol, performing the singing role of Ebenezer Scrooge's fiance Emily.
Writing career
Hewitt wrote a book released in March 2010, called The Day I Shot Cupid, in which she writes of her experiences with love and dating. While talking about the book during a January 2010 interview on Lopez Tonight, she said that there is a chapter in it about "vajazzling" her "vajayjay" (decorating her vulva with Swarovski crystals). She said it looked "cute", revealed that she was currently vajazzled with "hot pink" crystals and recommended to all women that they also "vajazzle their vajayjays". This became a big internet hit with the video going viral, widespread news coverage and the term "vajazzling" becoming one of the most searched terms on Google the next day.
Other work
In November 2009, Jennifer Love Hewitt made a foray into comic books. Veteran writer Scott Lobdell scripted the 5-issue anthology, Jennifer Love Hewitt's Music Box, based on Hewitt's ideas. The series has been published by IDW Publishing, and has been compiled in a trade paperback.
Personal life
Charity work
Hewitt is an honorary godparent of the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.
Relationships
She dated Carson Daly, singer-guitarist John Mayer, professional kayaker Brad Ludden, actor Joey Lawrence, musician Rich Cronin and actor Will Friedle, among others. Cronin, the leader singer of the LFO, wrote the group's 1999 hit single, "Girl on TV" for Hewitt. She also appeared in the music video for the song.
Hewitt was engaged to Scottish actor Ross McCall, whom she met when he made an appearance on Ghost Whisperer in late 2005. After two years of dating, they became engaged in late 2007, while vacationing in Hawaii. However, on January 5, 2009, People magazine reported that Hewitt called off their engagement in late 2008. She began a relationship with Ghost Whisperer co-star Jamie Kennedy in March 2009. However, a year later, Hewitt and Kennedy ended their relationship. Hewitt began dating actor/director/writer Alex Beh in July 2010. In April 2011, Hewitt and Beh ended their relationship after nine months.
Stalking
In 2002, conspiracy theorist and former social worker Diana Napolis was arrested for stalking and uttering death threats against Hewitt and Steven Spielberg after "verbally confronting" the actress at the 2002 Grammy Awards, and the subsequent day attempted to pose as a friend to enter the premiere of The Tuxedo. Napolis also admitted to becoming involved in a shoving match with Hewitt's mother while confronting the actress. Napolis accused Hewitt, along with director Spielberg, of controlling her thoughts through "cybertronic" technology and being part of a Satanic conspiracy against her. Napolis was charged with six felonies related to the incidents. After a year of involuntary commitment, Napolis pleaded guilty and was released on bail with a condition that she was barred from contact with both Spielberg and Hewitt.
Bikini photo controversy
Paparazzi photographs secretly taken of Hewitt on vacation in a bikini led to harsh criticism of her body by bloggers. Hewitt responded: "I've sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women's bodies are constantly scrutinized....What I should be doing is celebrating some of the best days of my life and my engagement to the man of my dreams, instead of having to deal with photographers taking invasive pictures from bad angles." She posed on the cover of Us Weekly 10 weeks later, having lost 18 lb since the photos were taken. She said she had lost the weight to boost her energy levels, while her trainer claims that she said the weight loss had nothing to do with critical comments. Hewitt later defended Jessica Simpson for receiving similar criticism saying, "It gets silly. We're all supposed to look how we're supposed to look. We're made to be different people."
Filmography
Film Title↓ Year↓ Role↓ Notes
Munchie 1992 Andrea Kurtz Credited as Love Hewitt
Little Miss Millions 1993 Heather Lofton Credited as Love Hewitt
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit 1993 Margaret Credited as Jennifer "Love" Hewitt
House Arrest 1996 Brooke Figler
Trojan War 1997 Leah Jones
I Know What You Did Last Summer 1997 Julie James
Can't Hardly Wait 1998 Amanda Beckett
Telling You 1998 Deb Freidman
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer 1998 Julie James
The Suburbans 1999 Cate
The Audrey Hepburn Story 2000 Audrey Hepburn
Heartbreakers 2001 Wendy / Page Conners / Jane Helstrom
The Hunchback of Notre Dame II 2002 Madellaine (voice) Direct-to-video film
The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina 2002 Thumbelina (voice) Direct-to-video film
The Tuxedo 2002 Del Blaine
Groove Squad 2002 Chrissy (voice) Direct-to-video film
The Truth About Love 2004 Alice Holbrook
If Only 2004 Samantha Andrews
Garfield 2004 Liz
A Christmas Carol 2004 Emily Made-For-Television
Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber 2005 Katya Livingston Made-For-Television
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties 2006 Liz
Shortcut to Happiness 2007 The Devil Filmed in 2001
Tropic Thunder 2008 Herself Cameo appearance
Delgo 2008 Princess Kyla (voice)
The Magic 7 2009 Erica (voice) Television film
Yes, Virginia 2009 Mrs. Laura O'Hanlon (voice)
Cafe 2010 Claire
The Client List 2010 Samantha Horton Lifetime original movie
The Lost Valentine 2011 Susan Allison Hallmark Hall of Fame original movie
Jewtopia TBA Alison Marks
Television Title↓ Year↓ Role↓ Notes
Kids Incorporated 1990–1991 Robin 3 Episodes
Running Wilde 1992 Unknown Episode: "Pilot"
Shaky Ground 1992–1993 Bernadette Moody 8 Episodes
The Byrds of Paradise 1994 Franny Byrd 7 Episodes
McKenna 1994–1995 Cassidy McKenna 3 Episodes
Boy Meets World 1998 Jennifer Love Fefferman Episode: "And Then There Was Shawn"
Hercules: The Animated Series 1999 Medusa (voice) Episode: "Hercules and the Gorgon"
Party of Five 1995–1999 Sarah Reeves 99 Episodes
Time of Your Life 1999–2000 Sarah Reeves Merrin 19 Episodes
Family Guy 2002 Herself (voice) Episode: "Stuck Together, Torn Apart"
American Dreams 2004 Nancy Sinatra 2 Episodes
In the Game 2005 Riley Reed Two pilot episodes; canceled
Ghost Whisperer 2005–2010 Melinda Gordon Lead role
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 2010 Vicki Sayers 1 episode
Love Bites 2011 Herself 1 episode
Hot In Cleveland 2011 1 episode
Director filmography Title↓ Year↓ Role↓ Notes
Ghost Whisperer 2009–2010 Director, producer TV Series
Episodes:
4.13 "Body Of Water"
5.01 "Birthday Presence"
5.15 "Implosion"
Wait Till Helen Comes 2011 Director, producer
Bad Taste in Men TBA Director, producer TV Series
Production credits
Time of Your Life (1999)
The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
Bunny (2000)
Ghost Whisperer (2005–2010)
The Client List (2010)
The Lost Valentine (2011)
Wait Till Helen Comes (2011)
Bad Taste in Men (TBA)
Go On Away (2013)
Discography
Albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures, and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions
US
AUS
NLD
Love Songs
Released: March 21, 1992
Label: Meldac
Formats: CD
— — —
Let's Go Bang
Released: October 10, 1995
Label: Atlantic
Formats: CD
— — —
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Released: September 3, 1996
Label: Atlantic
Formats: CD
— — —
BareNaked
Released: October 8, 2002
Label: Jive
Formats: CD
37 31 72
Cool with You: The Platinum Collection
Released: June 6, 2006
Label: unknown
Formats: CD
— — —
Hey Everybody
Released: December 2007
Label: unknown
Formats: CD
— — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Singles
Year Single Chart peak positions Album
U.S.
U.S. Adult AUS
NZ
NL
SWI
1995 "Couldn't Find Another Man" — — — — — — Let's Go Bang
1996 "No Ordinary Love" — — — — — — Jennifer Love Hewitt
1999 "How Do I Deal" 59 — 8 5 — — I Still Know What You Did Last Summer Soundtrack
2002 "BareNaked" 124 31 6 26 33 — BareNaked
2003 "Can I Go Now" — — 12 — 8 69
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Soundtracks
From House Arrest:
1996: "It's Good To Know I'm Alive"
From I Still Know What You Did Last Summer:
1998: "How Do I Deal?"
From Disney's Superstars Hits:
2002: "I'm Gonna Love You"
From :Scooby-Doo And The Alien Invaders:
2002: "Scooby Doo, Where Are You"
From If Only:
2003: "Love Will Show You Everything," "Take My Heart Back"
Music videos
Year Title
1992 "Please Save Us The World"
1995 "Couldn't Find Another Man"
1996 "No Ordinary Love"
1999 "How Do I Deal"
2002 "I'm Gonna Love You (Madellaine's Love Song)"
2002 "BareNaked"
2003 "Can I Go Now"
Music video appearances
Year Title Artist(s)
1998 "Can't Get Enough of You, Baby" Smash Mouth
1998 "High" (U.S. version) Feeder
1999 "Girl on TV" LFO
2001 "Hero" Enrique Iglesias
2010 "Christmas Tonight" Dave Barnes
Bibliography
The Day I Shot Cupid (2010)
Awards and nominations
Year Group Award Result Film/Show
1990 Young Artist Award Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast Nominated Kids Incorporated
1993 Young Artist Award Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Youth Series or Variety Show Nominated
1994 Young Artist Award Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Cable or Off Primetime Series Won
1996 Young Artist Award Best Professional Actress/Singer Nominated
1997 YoungStar Award Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama TV Series Nominated Party of Five
1998 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film — Leading Young Actress Nominated I Know What You Did Last Summer
Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Female Newcomer Won
Favorite Actress — Horror Nominated
1999 MTV Movie Award Best Female Performance Nominated Can't Hardly Wait
Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actress — Horror Won I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
Teen Choice Award Film — Choice Actress Won
Film — Most Disgusting Scene Nominated
TV — Choice Actress Nominated Party of Five
Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film — Leading Young Actress Nominated Can't Hardly Wait
2000 Kid's Choice Award Favorite Television Actress Nominated Party of Five
People's Choice Award Favorite Female Performer in a New Television Series Won Time of Your Life
2003 Kids' Choice Award Favorite Female Butt Kicker Won The Tuxedo
Teen Choice Award Choice Crossover Artist (Music/Acting) Nominated
2006 Saturn Award Best Actress on Television Won Ghost Whisperer
Kids' Choice Award Favorite Television Actress Nominated
People's Choice Award Favorite Female Television Star Nominated
2007 Saturn Award Best Actress on Television Won
2008 People's Choice Award Best Actress on Television Nominated
Saturn Award Best Actress on Television Won
TV Land Award Favorite Character from the "Other Side" Nominated
2010 Golden Globe Best Performance By An Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television Nominated The Client List
