Action girl has feet on firm ground

by Eileen Condon

SHE'S the beautiful, talented and still very young Hollywood star who exudes confidence and screen presence but, if there's one thing guaranteed to make actress Jennifer Love Hewitt tongue-tied, it's the mention of our very own British actor Paul Nicholls.

The pair are rumoured to be an item after meeting on the set of their yet to be released movie If Only, but when it comes to spilling the beans the normally self-assured Hewitt suddenly turns very coy.

"I don't want to say if the rumours are true or false because frankly I'm enjoying the fact that people would think that a lovely man like that would give me the time of day, so I'm not going to ruin it for myself," she smiles squirming nervously in her chair.

"But we are having a great time making the movie and I do adore him. We are having so much fun and we both get a great kick out of being in the papers and seeing our picture everywhere and knowing that people are really interested," she adds with an engaging laugh.

At first glance the 'are-they-aren't-they?'' pair couldn't be more different. She's the much in demand Hollywood star with a string of successful movies under her belt, he's the former soap actor who has yet to make his break on the big screen.

But Hewitt and Nicholls actually have a lot in common. Both are 23, both started out very young in the business and both were hugely successful in small screen soaps - he as schizophrenic Joe in EastEnders and she as orphaned Sarah in the American hit Party of Five.

"We do have an awful lot in common," enthuses Hewitt. "It's great to finally meet somebody my age. When we get together it's mostly eating pizzas and watching movies but the one thing he and I often talk about is that we've promised each other that we would be the person to remind each other that we are still only 23 because when you start out young, and especially if you're accomplished and blessed like we both are, it's easy to sometimes go, 'how old am I?'"

Hewitt was just 12 when she started acting professionally and is now one of Hollywood's most versatile young actresses having already tried her hand at drama in Party of Five, thrillers, such as the hit movie I Know What You Did Last Summer and comedies including last year's Heartbreakers, alongside Sigourney Weaver.

The talented actress, however, admits she's always been itching to do an action movie so she couldn't believe her luck when the offer came in to star alongside Jackie Chan.

The pair team up for the new movie The Tuxedo and Hewitt admits it was a dream come true to work with the legendary action hero."I grew up watching Jackie Chan movies," she beams. "I was such a huge fan so when they told me he was in it I knew I had to be in the movie, no matter what, even if I was just sweeping up in the background I just wanted to be a part of it to be on the same set as him."

Hewitt gets to do a lot more than sweep up in the movie. She proves herself to be something of a formidable action heroine having opted to do all the eye-popping stunts herself.

She plays a rookie agent who takes on the baddies with the aid of Chan and his state of the art tuxedo which transforms him into an all-action hero. Amazingly Hewitt turns out to be more than a match for Chan but as the petite star explains she's always been something of a tomboy.

"My favourite sports are boxing and hockey. There's this thing in me like invisible female testosterone," she laughs. "Every once in a while I'm like, 'I want to kick butt'. I grew up around a lot of guy friends and an older brother so I think my tomboy thing comes from trying to fit in with them."

She may be high kicking on screen but this is one Hollywood star with her feet very firmly on the ground in reality. Despite her enviable success she reckons there's more to life than making movies.

"I try to make my career my hobby," she explains. "I try not to give it the importance that it's my everything because if it's my everything then I've picked a really fleeting thing for it to be my everything. I try to make my friends and family and to be the best person I am my everything."

Her dual career in the music industry also helps her to keep things in perspective. Hewitt has just recorded her fourth album and a new single Can I Go Now will be released here in February.

"I'd love to make it in the UK on the music front," she says. "I've loved shooting If Only here so it would be great to be recognised for my music too."

Happily her British fans can expect to see a lot more of Hewitt in the future, she's back here to promote her new single next month. And her next movie, If Only, which was shot on location in and around London, looks set to dramatically raise her profile in the UK.

Then of course there's Paul Nicholls. She might be keeping tight-lipped about the true nature of their relationship but it's clear Hewitt found working with him a labour of love.

"If Only is going to make him an even bigger star than he is now and that he deserves to be," she smiles. "He is just phenomenal in this film and it was great to just sit and watch him."