Where in the Horror are they Now? Jennifer Love Hewitt

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT

THEN: Do any of you remember the series Party of Five? I’ll be honest, I’ve never watched a single episode of the drama. So why is it that I’m so thankful for this damn show? It’s all about the horror. While many of the series’ cast members went on to do other things, like Matthew Fox and Scott Wolf, the ladies all decided to head down a dark and scary road. The lovely Lacey Chabert has had her share of scary flicks, but it is Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt who truly embraced horror movies. When you think of leading ladies in slashers, both of these fine actresses made a huge impact thanks to SCREAM, and of course, somebody was perfectly aware of what Ms. Hewitt did last summer!

Jennifer started her career at a very young  age. The spunky actress was one of the cast members of a musical series called Kids Incorporated from 1990 – 1991 – Mario Lopez, Fergie and Martika also gained teenage fame from the show. After that, she quickly found herself involved in one of the most frightening films ever made! SISTER ACT 2: BACK IN THE HABIT! Okay, that’s a joke of course, but that movie was pretty terrible. Some of her other pre-scream queen credits MUNCHIE (1992), LITTLE MISS MILLIONS (1993), HOUSE ARREST (1996) and a series called Shaky Ground in which she appeared in 17 episodes. She also starred in another series called The Byrds of Paradise.

When Party of Five came along, it propelled the young star into a brand new role, that of Julie James in a little movie called I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER in 1997. With SCREAM making a huge bloody splash at the box office in 1996, scribe Kevin Williamson had the opportunity to go full slasher without the wink and nod. I remember some of the reviews attacking the film for being exactly what Williamson mocked in SCREAM, but I was okay with that. This psycho fisherman tale still works for me, and yes, the cast is part of the reason. Jennifer may have been the lead, but with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe backing… I was head over heals in love with this flick and frankly I still am. That Anne Heche bit is still glorious to me.

The following year they tried to recreate the magic of IKWYDLS with I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, and it didn’t work. To be fair, I still dug Jennifer, but the story was so convoluted and Brandy was kind of a waste, so I wasn’t a huge fan. Truthfully, when I first saw the original film, I was very disappointed that Gellar wasn’t the lead because I appreciated her character more. If anything, the sequel gave me a little more love for Hewitt as Julie James. Again, not a good movie, but there was something about watching her grow and continue down the genre road. And hey, at least she didn’t continue with I’LL ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER! Did anybody see this 2006 reboot/sequel? I’d really like to know how bad it is because it looks terrible.

After making a name for herself as a solid horror star, the actress drifted back into comedy. In 1998 she appeared in TELLING YOU and then, that same year, she broke a billion teenage hearts with her performance in CAN’T HARDLY WAIT. Everybody loves Amanda Beckett! This iconic teen flick may not be horror, but you can’t talk about Jennifer and not mention this fun comedy. The lovely Ms. Hewitt starred alongside a very impressive cast including Ethan Embry, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green and so many more. Sure it’s not genre, but I’d guarantee more than a few of you fell in love with Amanda back in 1998.

After that, Jennifer Love Hewitt focused a bit on her music career and she had a catchy song called How Do I Deal from the IKWYDLS soundtrack. Then there was more comedy including THE SUBURBANS in 1999 and HEARTBREAKERS in 2001. Hell, she even portrayed the great Audrey Hepburn in the appropriately titled TV-movie The Audrey Hepburn Story in 2000. She finally did return to spooky tales in the well received series Ghost Whisperer from 2005 to 2010. Sure it was schmaltzy and begging for a box of tissues, but she owned as Melinda Gordon, the woman who speaks to dead people. Call me crazy, but I kinda dug this series. It didn’t hurt that it also featured Jay Mohr, Aisha Tyler and a few other familiar faces.

NOW: After Ghost Whisperer faded out of view, Jennifer Love Hewitt found a bit of work on another series. The Client List began as a TV-movie in 2010, and then a series from 2012 – 2013. In the show she portrayed a single mother who happened to like to please men for cash. While I wasn’t a fan, it was fun to see her fully embrace her sexuality and obvious attributes. The actress has also appeared in a few episodes of Hot in Cleveland and Criminal Minds. Other than that, it seems that she has another role that she is currently involved in… mother.

In March of 2012, Ms. Hewitt started dating her The Client List co-star, Brian Hallisay. The two married in 2013 and have a family together. So perhaps, that next big series or movie role isn’t what she is currently focusing on. However, if you’d like to follow the actress and see what is next, you can check out her official Twitter and Facebook page. You’ll even find a few cute photos of her with pink hair from 2015. Although, other than that you won’t find much. She hasn’t been too active on Twitter this past year or so. And frankly, I too remember what she did several summers ago, so I’d love to see her return to big screen scares. Who’s with me?