20 Jul 2007
By GORDON KHO
Jennifer Love Hewitt relishes her role as a ghost whisperer on TV. It has taught her a thing or two about appreciating life ... and death.
Jennifer Love Hewitt’s cleavage raised a heated discussion in TV Guide recently. It was reported in the American magazine that Hewitt’s character in Ghost Whisperer, Melinda Gordon, had been baring a little bit more than necessary of late.
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Jennifer Love Hewitt: "I am an extreme workaholic."
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Why that has become a problem, beats me. Why her cleavage is being brought up only now escapes me too. Hasn’t Hewitt always flaunted her assets? Weren’t they the main draw in the slasher flick I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, which Hewitt headlined in 1997 and 1998?
What we, members of the media gathered in an empty sound stage at a Universal Studio lot in Los Angeles, wanted to know was – what would Hewitt be wearing for the interview today? After all, she was to meet us immediately after finishing one of her scenes. She was making time to speak to us, in between takes, to promote the second season of Ghost Whisperer, but she was running late.
Hewitt’s co-star, David Conrad who plays her on screen husband had already arrived.
“Let’s just start and you can ask me questions now because when Jennifer comes, I know all the questions will be for her,” Conrad said matter-of-factly, clearly aware who the main draw was.
Hewitt joined us five minutes later. Alas, she was not garbed in one of the cleavage-baring outfits Melinda was known for. Instead, she was clad in a snug blue sweater and tight denim jeans.
In person, Hewitt is exactly like how she comes across on screen – sweet, bubbly and friendly. And she laughs a lot too. Perhaps, it is this warm disposition that has helped Hewitt’s career flourish in Tinseltown.
While finding jobs in Hollywood may sound difficult, Hewitt never seems to have a problem. She is one actress who is constantly working.
For as long as we can remember, she has always been in one TV series (Party of Five) or another (Time of Your Life). It didn’t matter that Time of Your Life, a spin-off from Party of Five, only lasted half a season before it was cancelled due to poor ratings, Hewitt was in demand as she went on to star in movies like The Tuxedo (opposite Jackie Chan) and Garfield (opposite an annoying orange tomcat). Hewitt even guest starred in Enrique Iglesias’ video, Hero.
But she will tell you it is not just luck or that sweet disposition that has landed her so many gigs in Hollywood. It is also a lot of hard work on her part.
“I am an extreme workaholic! But I am trying to take it easy. Six months ago, I had a very good talk with myself and I was like, ‘Listen, it’s great, but, you know, one day you’re going to be this person who will have had tens of thousands of jobs but very little adventure, very little life experience.’
“I feel like if I don’t get my heart integrated into things, my brain would just let me continue to work all the time and not have any adventure, and that doesn’t make a full, rounded person to me,” Hewitt said.
However, whatever adventures Hewitt has planned will just have to take a backseat for the moment as Ghost Whisperer returns for a second season.
The popularity of the show, which tells the story of an antique dealer (Hewitt) who is able to talk to dead people, was a surprise to many especially since Hewitt’s last TV series bombed.
So, it is not a stretch to say that Hewitt felt some pressure filming the second season of Ghost Whisperer. “I actually find it more terrifying than the first because we want the episodes to be even better,” the actress admitted.
And on top of the pressure to prove herself as an actress, Hewitt also took on the role as producer for Ghost Whisperer.
“I have enough to do every day just being Melinda, but it’s nice that people allow me, a 28-year-old girl in Hollywood, to be a producer.”
Yes, this girl is a jack-of-all-trades. And for those of you who follow the music scene, you might remember Hewitt as a singer too. Her last album, Barenaked (she has four albums under her belt!) released in 2002 did moderately well in this region.
While she would love to release another album, Hewitt is wary about the process because she isn’t fond of the business aspect of the music industry.
“Sometimes, when you take your greatest passion, like singing, into a job, you don’t get to have as much fun because then it becomes about business and all that stuff. I miss singing and if I could get back to it soon, I’d really like to but there are no plans yet.”
Having played so many roles in the past few years – from scream queen to sociopath and spy – Hewitt revealed that Melinda Gordon is her favourite character thus far.
“I really like Ghost Whisperer because as Melinda I get to do all kinds of roles. We have really scary moments – which are fun – and then we have romantic stuff that David and I get to do.
“The comedy sort of comes in when I’m talking to myself basically and other people think I’m crazy, and I know that I’m talking to somebody else in the room. So, I get to do comedy, drama as well as horror in one show.”
However, Hewitt felt it was the dramatic aspect of the show, instead of the supernatural angle, that people tune in every week to watch.
“I think that everybody wishes they could have one last conversation with a person that they loved because most of the time, when someone passes, it’s a very sudden thing. And so we give people a chance every single week to know what it would be like to go back and have that one final word,” Hewitt explained.
She hopes Ghost Whisperer will inspire the audience to live better.
“Go and say your ‘I love yous’ and your ‘I’m sorrys’ and spend time with the people you love and really make it count because life is a fleeting thing.”
The show has also changed Hewitt’s perception about death. Although she used to be afraid to broach the subject, Hewitt now tries to see it in a positive light.
“Death is not a horrible thing. It’s a painful thing for those who are left behind. But for the person who leaves, it’s like, I was here and I did something tremendous and great and people are going to remember me for it, whether it’s a million people or just five. And when you look at it that way, it becomes a positive thing.”
She also didn’t believe in ghosts before, and hasn’t seen one either.
However, after spending one season playing Melinda, Hewitt has changed her mind. Well, sort of.
“I think I have to believe in it a little in order to play Melinda every day,” she stressed. “You know, there probably are these energies, spirits and ghosts and, maybe, we should have a little more appreciation for them.”
With the success of Ghost Whisperer, Hewitt has won herself some quirky fans. The actress said that she had been invited to many funerals by fans of the show. And no, she didn’t attend.
“People want me to come to funerals and just sit there and help them out. And it’s a very odd thing because I’m not really sure what I would do for them.”
It’s tough being an actress. Fans want you to attend funerals and detractors scrutinise your décolletage. But Hewitt has a sense of humour about the attention her breasts are getting lately.
She has said: “It makes me laugh – there’s a hundred other body parts that I feel completely insecure about and would rather no one ever talked about. So if they focus on breasts, it’s fine with me! Mine have a career of their own.”
And with good ratings and positive reviews for the second season of Ghost Whisperer, it looks like Jennifer Love Hewitt, and her assets, are here to stay.
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