jennifer Love Hewitt wants you to stop comparing her to her 20-year-old self.
The Tuxedo actress called out fans for fixating on the younger version of herself, which she said was sexualized in Hollywood.
“She was a looker,” Hewitt joked on a recent appearance of the Inside of You Podcast. “But also that 23- and 25-year-old wasn’t in her body.”
In fact, Hewitt didn’t feel self-confident at that age.
“I felt watched. I felt like I had to be everything for everybody all the time,” the Party of Five star continued. “I was called sexy before I ever knew what being sexy was. I was 17 years old on the cover of Maxim, and I had no idea why.”
She recalled filming Heartbreakers when she was 23 years old and getting asked to “be sexier” in her scenes. So, she pulled the filmmaker aside and said, “‘I know that I’m supposed to be this thing for people but I don’t know what that means.'”
That’s why she feels bothered when fans long for her to remain that person.
“It’s weird for me when people are like, ‘That’s the girl that we wanted you to be,'” she noted. “That girl was so insecure and so confused and trying her best. But this girl—who may not look [that] way—I like who I am. I feel good. I’m fine.”
Now, as a 44-year-old, Hewitt feels confident in her skin—most of the time.
“I mean, not every day, but you know, I have my moments,” she teased. “There’s definitely times where I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Oh, dear god, what has happened?'”
Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesBut motherhood has changed her perception on appearance as well, as she raises kids Autumn James, 10, Atticus James, 8, and Aidan James, 2, with husband Brian Hallisay.
“I’m a mother of a girl, and it’s dangerous what we put on people,” the Ghost Whisperer star noted. “It’s dangerous to say to women, ‘You can’t look like you’re not 22 to me anymore.'”
Her response to the haters? “OK, well that’s your problem,” she quipped. “Because I’m 44, and this is what I look like.”
