Before I start, I just want to say that I know Jennifer Love Hewitt isn’t everyone’s cup of tea in terms of acting and artistry. I get it. She was one of the biggest teen queens of the 90s with her hit roles in Sister Act II: Back in the Habit (1993), House Arrest (1996), Trojan War (1997), “Party of Five” from 1995-1999, and Heart Breakers (2001). Being that this is the horror community, I expect there to be a lot of people who cast doubt on her ability as a performer and chalk her success up to her two biggest assets – you know what I mean.
However, Ms. Hewitt played the role of Julie James in the 1997 slasher flick I Know What You Did Last Summer. Whether you want to admit it or not, the film was the #6 highest grossing movie in the slasher genre to date and the 20th most popular film of that year. Its sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer in 1998, was equally successful in its own rights Not only that but Ms. Hewitt was supposed to return as Julie in the second sequel, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, but the whole idea was scrapped and moved ahead as a straight-to-DVD no-brainer, although remnants of the original script are available online with a little bit of searching. And let’s not forget her lead role as Melinda Gordon in five seasons of ABC’s “The Ghost Whisperer” from 2005-2010. What I’m trying to get across here is that Jennifer Love, while brief, has done her share of acting in our favorite genres of film – horror and scifi.
Around the time Jennifer’s Lifetime movie The Client List (2010) and the subsequent television series continuation – “The Client List” from 2012-2013 – she started to date co-star Brian Hallisay. A few months later in mid-2013 she announced they were engaged and expecting a baby girl. They married in late November 2013 and Jennifer delivered her healthy baby about a week later. This was literally only about eight months ago.
Last week I was browsing her public message board on IMDB in hopes of finding where I could download the original I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer script. And I found something disturbing. 10 out of the 20 threads on the first page were ill willed and name calling, being particularly hurtful and calling her fat and ugly. Even the online gossip blogs were getting in on the hate.
So, this is the point of my entire post – I want to publically defend her to the people criticizing her body image. I have such love for the women (and men) in the horror genre as they have given so much to me as an avid viewer. And, Hell, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is one of my low-key favorite horror films of all time. I’d like to defend her Ms. Hewitt because I’m a human, too. Who knows why she has a little extra weight on her? Maybe because she’s mid-30s now and not trying to be a stick figure? Maybe because she just had a baby? What’s the harm in devoting more time to herself and her family than in trying to please you? What’s the issue here, really? I, for one, think she still looks amazing. I know I wouldn’t turn her down!
And let me remind you that Jennifer Love Hewitt was voted as #7 FHM’s Sexiest Girls (2002), #14 Rush Magazine’s Sexiest Women (2002), #11 Stuff’s Sexiest Women in the World (2002), #32 Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 (2005), #20 FHM’s Sexiest Women in the World (2005), #43 FHM’s Sexiest Women in the World (2006), #32 Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 (2008) #35 Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 (2010), #20 Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 (2012), #6 Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 (2013), and #35 Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 (2014). Until you’ve achieved statistics like those, I’d rather not hear or see anything negative about this actress, producer, writer, singer, and mother.
Thank you for your time.
