10 hours ago
1
From fictional scream queen to true crime.
Jennifer Love Hewitt has become one of the iconic “final girls” in horror movies, thanks to her role in the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” franchise. And now, she’s sharing the stories of true murders.
Hewitt, 46, narrates and executive produces the true crime ID docuseries “A Killer Among Friends,” airing Mondays (10 p.m. on ID and streaming on HBO Max).
“I was shocked at how many people in my life are obsessed with true crime – and I didn’t know it until I said that I was going to be doing the show. And they’re like, ‘We can’t wait to watch it!’ I’m not a true crime buff, per se…I was really interested in this show, more because of the human condition of it all,” Hewitt exclusively told The Post.
Each episode of “A Killer Among Friends” follows a murder case where the culprit turns out to be someone who knew the victim.
“[It’s] not something that I’ve done before, so I was excited for that,” the “Party of Five” actress said of narrating. “I feel like that’s what we’re supposed to do in life: constantly challenge ourselves to do new things.”
She “wasn’t sure about” joining the project initially, however.
“I’m used to relying on my face for all the emotions, and bringing those out in that one specific way,” Hewitt explained to The Post. “So to challenge myself to pay homage to the people lost in these stories and their families and friends who are still here…. I wanted to sound graceful, and to not be in the way of this story. But, to just be the vehicle for the story with my voice.”
Hewitt, who was labeled “a sex symbol” when she was still a teenager in the 1990s, has since spoken about how watching documentaries about Britney Spears in recent years helped her process her complicated feelings about that.
“I think for me to realize later in life that maybe some of the things that were talked about in and around me or directly to me as a young female weren’t as they should have been,” she said.
In an infamous 1996 interview on “The Tonight Show” when she was 16, Jay Leno asked about her love life and age.
“I don’t hold the people asking those questions responsible – it was more that was the thing that was allowed at that time,” she explained. “Grown men were allowed to ask young girls questions that now, if we looked at that, we would not allow. We were just sort of a part of that time.”
She added, “I do think that these documentaries in general and documentary series really allow people to see things and look at things differently than maybe they do in a magazine article.”
The “Can’t Hardly Wait” actress shares three kids with her husband, actor Brian Hallisay, who she married in 2013: Autumn, 11, Atticus, 10, and Aidan, 3.
“I’m very intrigued by trauma, and… how people continue to move through that and find a life after it,” she said. “So in this series, I’m interested in these young people and how they’ve gone on to live lives, even though they’ve been through these traumatic experiences.”
Recently, Hewitt also reprised her role as the traumatized Julie James in the latest “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot, which is currently in theaters.
The horror flick’s end-credits scene suggested a third movie in the franchise could happen.
“Oh my gosh, I have no idea. I mean, truthfully, I was just excited to be asked back for this one. So I don’t want to be too greedy,” Hewitt told The Post. “But as long as there’s a really interesting, fun story to tell, and as long the people still care about the characters, I’m always happy to hopefully find my way back there.”
English (US)