Jennifer Love Hewitt talked about aging in Hollywood in an interview with Fox News. She pointed out that some people are surprised she doesn’t look like she did in the ‘90s. She believes that aging gracefully is an important skill, and she is doing it well.
Jennifer Hewitt, 45, became famous for her role in the teen drama Party of Five. In her 20s, she starred in popular films like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Can't Hardly Wait. She gained a large fanbase who loved her, but things are a bit different now as she's gotten older, and fans are not used to seeing a different person.
“I feel like fans pick this age that they love that they think represents you, and you're never supposed to grow beyond that," Hewitt, 45, told Fox New Digital in an interview published on Thursday, December 26. "For me, it was like me and my 20s. People seem to have a really hard time accepting that I don't look that way anymore.”
She continued, "Whatever it is, you just want to have the freedom to be whoever you are at that age. And it's hurtful sometimes when people reject you as you are verbally on Instagram or the internet because they're having a hard time adjusting to it."
The"Shortcut to Happiness" actress responded last year to comments about looking "unrecognizable" after she posted a photo on social media. She discussed this in a December 2023 episode of Michael Rosenbaum’s “Inside of You” podcast.
"The picture ended up somewhere. And a bunch of people were like, ‘Jennifer Love Hewitt is unrecognizable,'" she said. "’She's unrecognizable and so she's gone to filters because she doesn't want us to know how bad she actually looks now in her 40s.' And I was like, ‘This is crazy.' Right?"
Hewitt also took time to look back at her younger self and offer some advice to the teenager who graced the cover of Maxim at age 17.
“Look, it's going to work out. You're going to start getting old, and they're still going to let you do things,” she said. “It's OK. You're fine.”
Jennifer Love Hewitt has spoken about sexism in the industry
.jpeg "Jennifer Love Hewitt in “Shortcut to Happiness”")
In a podcast interview, Jennifer Love Hewitt once discussed her experiences with sexism in the entertainment industry. She recalled a filmmaker in the early 2000s asking her to act “sexier”.
“I remember doing Heartbreakers at 23, and the director was like, ‘We just need you to be sexier.’ I had to pull him aside and be like, ‘I don’t know what that means. I’m only 23,’” she said. “I know that I’m supposed to be this thing for people, but I don’t know what that means. He had to, like, help me figure that out.”
Hewitt shared her feelings about being overly sexualized, expressing how it made her uncomfortable in her own skin. She thinks it's odd when people pressure her to look like she's still that young, self-conscious 20-year-old actress.
“It’s weird for me when people are like, ‘That’s the girl that we wanted you to be,’” Hewitt added. “That girl was so insecure and so confused and trying her best. But this girl [now] — who may not look [that] way — I like who I am. I feel good. I’m fine.”
The mom of two said that she doesn't feel sexy "every day" but does "have my moments."
“There’s definitely times where I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Oh, dear god, what has happened?’" she added. "And there’s other times where I’m like, ‘She’s got it. She’s fine.'”