“I think people were expecting me to go play another network show and play the same girl I’ve been playing for a long time,” she said, sitting at a booth last month at Corky’s diner in Sherman Oaks, where “The Client List” crew members were preparing for a scene in the show’s sixth episode. “But now starting my 24th year in the business, I needed a little bit of a re-creation. I looked at my career and thought, ‘Let’s shake it up a little bit. Let’s have butterflies in our stomach.’”
“The Client List” grew out of a movie of the same name, also starring Hewitt, that ran on Lifetime in 2010. Lifetime executives, who’ve struggled with ratings in recent years, were encouraged by the film’s strong numbers. According to Nielsen, last year the network’s prime-time viewership fell 6%, to 1.1 million, from 2009, while Lifetime’s core audience — women ages 18 to 49 — was down 14%.
“This is a bold series for us, there’s no doubt about it — and we want to bring in new viewers,” acknowledged Rob Sharenow, Lifetime’s executive vice president of programming. “We’re proud of our Lifetime movies, but we are trying to evolve the mother ship and do things that are more accessible to the general public. And with this show’s marketing campaign, I’ve definitely had a lot of anecdotal comments from men who have never noticed Lifetime in quite the same way.”
Hewitt, too, has heard from men intrigued by the risqué advertisements. But by now, she says, she has become accustomed to public commentary about her body. In 2007, a round of unflattering bikini shots made the rounds on the Internet, prompting the actress to appear on the cover of People magazine under the headline “Stop calling me fat!”
“Because my body has certainly been talked about in a negative way, the fact that people are talking positively about it now makes me feel good,” said Hewitt, who is also an executive producer on the new series. “It would be great if there was an equal amount of, ‘Wow, she really gave us a great performance’ as ‘She has big boobs.’ They’re not always equal…. I always try to remember that it’s Hollywood, and part of our job as actors is to be eye candy — so it’s fine.”
Playing up her sexuality hasn’t always come easily to Hewitt. Harry Elfont, who directed the actress in 1998’s “Can’t Hardly Wait,” said the studio initially had reservations about casting her as the “prettiest girl at school” when her image was more the “cute, supporting best friend.”
“She was figuring out the balance of how sexy she should be,” recalled Elfont, who noted, “she was still girlish and innocent, but at the same time — she knew she looked good.”
It’s partly that sexy-but-sweet reputation that has endeared Hewitt to audiences. While she realizes the importance of her sex appeal, she also believes there’s a “best friend vibe” about her: “a dorky, throw my hair in a ponytail and pillow fight with my friends kind of girl,” as she puts it.
Hewitt isn’t shy about using social media and has been exceedingly open on her Twitter account. She shares pictures from “The Client List” set, muses about her desire to become a Victoria’s Secret angel and retweets saccharine love sayings, like “come live in my heart and pay no rent.” She has also been candid about her relationship struggles, most notably in the 2010 self-help book “The Day I Shot Cupid: Hello, My Name Is Jennifer Love Hewitt and I’m a Love-aholic.”
“She’s enormously approachable,” said Cybill Shepherd, who plays Hewitt’s mother on the new show. “I loved the experience of working with her so much that I’d probably do the phone book with her. And she looks gorgeous on those billboards. They’ll get people to tune in, and then they’ll see her wonderful acting.”
Indeed, Hewitt’s TV movie role earned her a Golden Globe nomination — an honor that still leaves her dumbfounded. “It was like, ‘Wow, somebody noticed something else,’” she said with a laugh. “I’d like to find some more parts like that that could offer a different side or a different conversation piece. I have not been offered those yet,” she said. After pausing for a moment reflectively, she tried to regain her optimism. “But, hey, I’ve only got a few years left before I’m a character actor, anyway, so might as well work it.”
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We’re thinking Jennifer Love Hewitt’s new TV show The Client List is going to be quite a hit among the men of the land, thanks to the fact she seems to be half naked in it most of the time.
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This is the latest image of Jennifer from the set – one she was quite happy to share with fans via Twitter.And why not, she looks damned hot after all as she sits in the bath with some strategically placed bubbles and a look on her face that says, ‘I am going to eat you alive… right after I’ve gently lathered my entire nudity in soap’. This would make sense too – she plays a hooker in Client List. Jimmy Kimmel rather hilariously presented Jennifer with a close up view of her own titties recently when she appeared on his show, so we should probably take another look at that really – be rude not to.9-1-1 is back, and Jennifer Love Hewitt may return as well. She’s been absent from the show for months. But per teases, her character Maddie Kendall, may make another appearance. 9-1-1 returns to Fox Monday, March 21, at 8 p.m. ET. Maddie disappeared during an October 2021 episode of the Fox series that puts frontline workers on the map.
Her character leaves her and boyfriend Howie “Chimney” Han’s (Kenneth Choi) daughter, Jee-Yun, at the firehouse. In the episode, her character explains that their child was not safe with her since she was battling postpartum depression.
Fans have been concerned that her character wouldn’t return to the show. In Jan. 2022, Hewiitt explained that her character would be back during Season 5. The show returns Monday, March 21. “Oh Maddie how I have missed you,” Hewitt captioned a set of Instagram selfies. “Since you’ve been gone we both have changed. But coming back together feels good. See you guys in March. @911onfox.”
Hewitt, who starred in the I Know What You Did Last Summer series, opened up in August 2019 about how her role on 9-1-1 has impacted her children. Since her breakthrough in the 90s, she’s become an icon of sorts.
“[My daughter was] studying emergency situations in school the other day and she was like, ‘Oh, if you get in an emergency situation, just call my mommy. She’s not going to help you. She’s going to send someone else to do it,’ and I was like, ‘Thanks a lot, babe,'” she told Us Weekly at the time. “She asked me, ‘How come you always answer the phone, but you don’t actually help anyone?'”
Despite Hewitt’s drama, the show is thriving. Its lead actress, Angela Bassett, is earning a record high. TV Line reports that Bassett earns “north of $450,000 an episode.” This now allegedly makes her the highest-paid actress ever for an actress of color on a broadcast drama series.
