Jennifer Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is well-known for her television and film roles in the Fox television series Party of Five, as Sarah Reeves, and also starred in I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel, as Julie James. Hewitt can currently be seen on the CBS television program Ghost Whisperer, as Melinda Gordon, a young newlywed who can communicate with the ghosts of the dead.

Biography

Early life and career

Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas, the daughter of Patricia Mae (n饠Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician.^[2] 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 and winning the title of Texas Our Little Miss Talent Winner, she moved to Los Angeles, California, with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing.

Film career

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 wasn't 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 only half a season.

Hewitt made her film debut in the independent film Munchie (1992). 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 U.S. dollars worldwide). The film made Hewitt and her co-stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar some of the most popular young stars in the USA. She also appeared in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), which, though ultimately not as successful as the first film, took in more money on its opening weekend. Other notable film roles have included 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 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.

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 was asked to play "Juliet" in Romeo + Juliet, but the director felt she wasn't modern looking. The role went to Claire Danes. 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.

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?Music career

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. Neither the single nor the album generated much public interest.

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 didn't return to the music scene for 3 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 #59 on the Hot 100 and #36 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It also reached #8 in Australia.

In 2002, Hewitt signed to Jive Records and recorded her fourth album with singer/songwriter/producer Meredith Brooks. The first single, "BareNaked", became her biggest radio hit to date when it peaked at #24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, #31 on the Adult Top 40 and #25 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It also climbed to #6 in Australia and #33 in the Netherlands. The moderate success of the single propelled her album of the same name to peak at #37 on the Billboard 200 and #31 in Australia. However, it only remained on the chart for 3 weeks. The second single, "Can I Go Now", failed to chart in the US, while managing to peak at #8 in the Netherlands and #12 in Australia.

Since 2003, Hewitt hasn't actively done anything in the music industry, but a compilation called Cool with You: The Platinum Collection was released in Asia.

Hewitt co-wrote and performed two songs for the If Only movie soundtrack which in 2004 she starred in. These were 'Love Will Show You Everything' and 'Take My Heart Back'.

Also in 2004 she appeared in the made-for-television musical "A Christmas Carol" in the singing role of Ebenezer Scrooge's fiance Emily.

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Personal life

Hewitt is an honorary godparent of the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.^[4]

Hewitt began dating Scottish actor Ross McCall in January 2006 after he made an appearance on Ghost Whisperer. In November 2007, while vacationing in Hawaii, the couple became engaged.^[5] Some paparazzi photographs secretly taken during this vacation show Hewitt with a slightly higher weight than previously and were subsequently criticized 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."^[6]

She has also dated singer-guitarist John Mayer,^[7] talk show host Carson Daly, actor/model Kip Pardue, writer Chris Benson, singer-songwriter Rich Cronin, actor and singer Joey Lawrence, professional kayaker Brad Ludden, and actor Will Friedle.

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Magazine listings

Between the years of 1997 and 2008, Hewitt was rated one of the sexiest women in the world by the magazine FHM, and in 1999 and 2006 by Maxim magazine.

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FHM

• 91 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1997)
• 91 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1998)
• 31 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1999)
• 13 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2000)
• 50 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2001)
• 13 in FHM-USA's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2001)
• 15 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2002)
• 7 in FHM-USA's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2002)
• 7 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2003)
• 12 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2004)
• 19 in FHM's 50 Sexiest Women from 1995-2004
• 12 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2005)
• 16 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2006)
• 14 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2007)

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?Maxim

• 1 in Maxim's Sexiest Women In The World (1999)
• 29 in Maxim's Hot 100 List (2006)
• 20 in Maxim's Hot 100 list (2008)

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TV Guide

• 1 (female) in TV Guide's "Sexiest on TV" (May 5-11, 2008 issue)

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?Filmography

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Television work

• Dance! Workout with Barbie
• Kids Incorporated (cast member from 1989–1991)
• Running Wilde (1992) (unsold pilot)
• Shaky Ground (1992–1993)
• The Byrds of Paradise (1994) (canceled after 13 episodes)
• McKenna (1994–1995)
• Party of Five (cast member from 1995–1999)
• Boy Meets World (Feb 27, 1998) episode "And Then There Was Shawn"
• Time of Your Life (1999–2000)
• Disney's Hercules (1999) Medusa
• The Weekenders (2000)
• The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
• Family Guy (Jan. 31, 2002) episode "Stuck Together, Torn Apart"
• A Christmas Carol (2004)
• American Dreams (2004)
• In the Game (2004) (1st unsold pilot)
• In the Game (2005) (2nd unsold pilot)
• Ghost Whisperer (2005–present)
• Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber (2005)
• Magic 7 (2008) Voice

Upcoming:

• Angry Little Girls (set to air in 2008) (voice)
• 24 (set to air in 2008) (Julie Campbell)

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?Commercials

In 2005, 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, Charlie Sheen, Cuba Gooding Jr., Marisa Tomei, Damon Wayans, Kevin Bacon, Hugh Hefner, Matthew Perry, and on Spanish-language advertising, Aracely Arambula, and Pablo Montero. In 2006, the campaign added Christina Applegate to their lineup.

Hewitt has appeared in a "Don't Mess With Texas" commercial. This commercial also features fellow Texans: Matthew McConaughey, Los Lonely Boys, LeeAnn Womack, Lance Armstrong, Owen Wilson, and Erykah Badu. Seattle Seahawks running back Julius Jones, Chuck Norris (star of Walker Texas Ranger), and Janine Turner are also seen in the DMWT commercial.

She also appears in a commercial for Rodan & Fields acne medication Proactiv.

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Production credits

• Time of Your Life (1999)
• The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
• Bunny (2000)
• Ghost Whisperer (2005)

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Discography

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?Albums

• NR indicates the album was not released in that country.

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?Singles

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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 If Only:

• 2003: "Love Will Show You Everything", "Take My Heart Back"

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Awards