Talking with the dead, Jennifer Love Hewitt strikes a happy medium as a helper of lost souls.......

by Ian Spelling with Jim Mix

"I just like to work on things that inspire me, and GHOST WHISPERER really does that," Jennifer Love Hewitt enthuses of her new supernatural TV series. "I love my character. I love the show, We have the best crew in the world, and I love the people I’m working with. Regardless of what happens with the series, I know I’ll be friends with David Conrad and Aisha Tyler until I’m 80. It just felt like the right project. I’m excited that I get to come into work every day and do something that I believe in so much. Hopefully, we’ll get some people watching."

GHOST WHISPERER which airs and Friday nights @ 8:00 PM on CBS, cast Hewitt as Melinda Gordon, a newlywed with a semi-unique gift: she can see dead people. And she uses that wild talent to help unsettled souls close out their business in this world so that they can finally cross over into the next. The central premise comes from renowned medium James Van Praagh who serves as a producer. Conrad---whose credits include a recurring role on ROSEWELL---plays Melinda’s paramedic husband, Jim. Taylor---who was seen in THE SANTA CLAUSE II, 24, AND CSI---costars as Andrea, Melinda’s best friend. She’s aware of Melinda’s secret and helps manage the antique shop that Melinda’s owns.

"The idea of being able to say goodbye to people who have to leave us in life and not necessarily feeling that it’s the last time they’re with us is really intriguing," Hewitt says during a break from lensing at a hospital. "It’s especially fascinating when you think about where we are in the world today. We’re losing so many people, and it seems like a very desperate time. So it’s a good opportunity to try to understand life, to realize how important it is to live it properly and enjoy it."

DEAD TALK

Hewitt notes that one of the things that drew her to GHOST WHISPERER was the Melinda-Jim dynamic. "The relationship between Melinda and Jim is always going to be interesting because he’s a paramedic," she says. "He’s constantly dealing with people dying and she’s constantly getting them after they’ve died. So they’ve both go this hunger to be with a live person, and they both need passion and friendship. I think that makes their marriage fun to watch."

"Jim also has to be her hero. Melinda has to be the savior for everyone else, but when she comes home, he gets to take that role," Hewitt describes and continues.

"Melinda can stop being the hero for a while and her husband can take over. At the same time, there will be continual danger for this girl. She’ll always be on the verge of ignoring her own living existence because she’s forever trying to help people who are no longer alive. Melinda is consistently assisting people with their unfinished business and the moments, in which they didn’t live or do something or say something. But in the meantime, she’s missing out on significant things in her own life. Melinda has to remind herself of what’s important---that she has a husband and owns a business. It’s definitely interesting to play."

GHOST WHISPERER stars JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT and DAVID CONRAD playing husband and wife Melinda Gordon (Clancy) and Jim Clancy.

Actually, Van Praagh is Hewitt’s rock or, if not that, then At least her touchstone. The singer-actress turns to him often for guidance when it comes to the task of making the otherworldly seem as natural and convincing as possible. "James and I have a really good time," she says. "He’s just a great person. I’m constantly picking his brain with general questions like, ‘The ghosts on the show look like normal people, so how will I know when I’m staring at a ghost?’ I’m always asking about those kinds of things. Plus, James told me about his experiences and what’s it’s like to be somebody who walks the Earth every day with that gift, leading that life and what the frustrations of that sometimes are. We talk about that stuff endlessly."

Each week on GHOST WHISPERER, Melinda helps someone new and different. There likely won’t be a mythology, and Melinda won’t solve an old crime every seven days. The premise essentially boils down to "guest ghost of the week" storylines, and has prompted comparisons to TRU CALLING, TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL and, most often, MEDIUM. There’s no denying that the surprise success of MEDIUM last season paved the way for GHOST WHISPERER, but Hewitt just wishes that people---particularly those already deeming GHOST WHISPERER derivative---would wait until they’ve actually watched her show before passing judgement on it.

"Here’s the thing" to be compared to a hit show when you’re not even on the air yet is never an insult," she says, putting a positive spin on the matter. "MEDIUM is a good series, and they tell interesting stories. So if we can have the same success as MEDIUM, we’ll be really psyched. That’s why we don’t take [the comparisons] as an insult. Before they see our show, people are going to compare it to other programs---otherwise there’s no way to talk about it. And as long as people are talking about it right now, that’s a great thing. Hopefully, once people watch GHOST WHISPERER, the show will prove to be it’s own entity. We’re very different from MEDIUM."

LIVE CHAT

Hewitt fans---and there are a great many of them, considering the ridiculous number of internet sites devoted to her---know that GHOST WHISPERER is the latest in a long line of genre work past and upcoming for the singer-actress. She had been already been working for years---first in commercials, then in the Disney show KIDS INCORPORATED and such films as SISTER ACT 2---when the Fox series PARTY OF FIVE and the horror film I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER put her on the map.

‘LAST SUMMER’ and its sequel 'I STILL KNOW…..' cast her as Julie James, a pretty high school student stalked by a murderous fisherman she and her pals accidentally hit with her car and then left for the dead. "They were so much fun," Hewitt says. "I would shoot those movies over and over again. We had a really good time."

Then, in 2001, Hewitt starred alongside Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins in a big-screen adaptation of THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER. Unfortunately, the Baldwin-directed film---which cast Hewitt as the sexiest Devil ever---ended up ensnarled in litigation and remains unreleased. "I’m so sad that never came out, because it was one of the greatest acting experiences of my life," she comments. "Alec was tremendous, and I got to act opposite Anthony Hopkins. It was a fabulous opportunity and I’ll never forget it."

Other projects in the genre realm include the direct-to video THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME II, with Hewitt as the voice of Madellaine. Hewitt composed the song with her former teacher and friend CHRIS CANUTE for ‘Hunchback II’ titled "I’M GONNA LOVE YOU (MADELLAINE’S LOVE SONG)" and sung the song at the end of the movie. The song won Best Song at the 3^rd Annual DVD Awards. "‘Hunchback II’ was lots of fun," Hewitt says. "I’ve got to write the end song for that. Any time you can do a Disney animated movie, it’s a blast!"

Then there was THE TUXEDO, where Hewitt partnered with Jackie Chan, who sports fancy duds loaded with gadgets aplenty. "Jackie is still my hero. I felt like a kid who won a contest to be on the set everyday and watch their favorite superhero do his thing. I totally loved the experience."

GARFIELD: THE MOVIE, as Liz, the sweet veterinarian who romances John (played by Breckin Meyer), the owner of the wisecracking title tabby (voiced by BILL MURRAY). "We’re getting ready to do ‘GARFIELD II’. The first film was so adorable, and I had so much fun doing it and watching it. Breckin is one of my favorite people I’ve ever met. We don’t have the final script yet for ‘GARFIELD II’, but I think we’ll be looking into the future with Jon and Liz, and there could possibly be wedding bells."

Hewitt also played Ebenezer Scrooge’s young love Emily in the 2004 TV Musical adaptation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL: The Musical. "That was very romantic and enjoyable," Hewitt recalls of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Budapest, where we shot it, is an unbelievable place. I loved getting to sing and dance, and Steven Miller, who played the youthful Ebenezer Scrooge, is one of the nicest guys. I also loved Kelsey Grammer [who played the adult Ebenezer].

Back to Animation, Hewitt is among the voice talented involved in the upcoming animated feature DELGO. As for her part as Princess Kyla in DELGO, Hewitt comments, "The film is extraordinary visually. I did a voice for that, but I have no idea when it’s coming out. I’ve been working on it off and on for at least two years. I’m the princess, and Freddie Prinze Jr. (who starred with Hewitt in I KNOW and I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER) plays my love interest. It’s ROMEO & JULIET with beautiful flying bug things."

Hewitt giggles at the mention of another credit listed on the INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE (www.imdb.com) something called THE MAGIC 7, a live action/animated hybrid which boasts an unlikely array of talent what also includes Kevin Bacon, Ted Danson, Michael J. Fox, Demi Moore (worked with Hewitt on THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME II), Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, and even the late Madeline Kahn and John Candy. "THE MAGIC 7 is a project that I did when I was 13 years-old and it never came out," Hewitt muses. "I keep hearing that it’s going to be released, but I have no idea when it’s coming out, and I’m terrified to see how I look. I was 13!

Like any other actor, Hewitt has had her share of career ups and downs. GHOST WHISPERER could be her next hit or her next flop, but either way, she’s jazzed about the opportunity. "It has been an incredible ride," Hewitt says. "In this business, you can’t ever expect anything. You just have to say, ‘Okay, take me wherever you’re going to take me today, and I’ll follow.’ Some days are unbelievable and beyond your wildest dreams, and other times it’s completely depressing. It’s all of that."

"Acting is a business and I’m thrilled to be a part of it," Jennifer Love Hewitt says. "I stopped wishing for things a long time ago, because I’ve already gotten so much more than I ever hoped for."

Story: © 2005 Starlog Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Images: CBS Broadcasting Inc. - a Viacom Company, Devil Productions LLC, Disney Enterprises Inc., Electric Eye Entertainment Corporation, Touchstone Television LLC - a Walt Disney Company, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation - a News Corporation & Paws Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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The Devil & Daniel Webster

Garfield: The Movie

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

Delgo

The Tuxedo

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