The infamous Jennifer Love Hewitt, 45, is taking a stance against Hollywood ageism. Critics and social media scrutinize how the former child actress has aged, and she’s not taking this scrutiny lightly.
The comments left her hurt, and fearful that her children may be impacted by this negativity, and yet, she’s confronting the wave and trying to break the stigma.
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Age is just a number
Hewitt opened up to Fox News Digital about how she views her age, saying: “Age is age, I think women really come into this… acceptance of themselves and comfortability in their 40s that is beautiful.” Despite that, the public reaction has left an impact on her.
The fans are giving her a hard time
“The times that it’s hard for me though… I feel like fans pick… this age that they love that they think represents you, and you’re never supposed to grow beyond that,” she elaborated. She believes that fans can’t get over her looks in her 20s, and can’t imagine her beyond that age.
Hewitt is known for many roles
The Ghost Whisperer superstar is most known for her role in the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise, and also Heartbreakers, in addition to the cult classic Can’t Hardly Wait.
Furthermore, her first appearance on the screen was as a child actor in the Disney Channel variety show Kids Incorporated when she was only 10 years old.
She wants to embrace the aging process
What scares people about aging doesn’t scare Hewitt. “I think as humans, we want to evolve… we want to have lines on our faces, and you know, our boobs be lower from breast-feeding our children, or you know, our butt’s bigger,” she elaborated.
However, people’s rejection hurts
“Whatever it is, you just want to have the freedom to be whoever you are at that age. And it’s hurtful sometimes when people reject you as you are verbally on Instagram or the internet because they’re having a hard time adjusting to it,” she explained.
The filter incident
Hewitt posted a photo on social media where she added a filter because she wasn’t wearing makeup. The 9-1-1 superstar sadly faced an avalanche of negative comments and headlines.
She had comments saying that she looks “unrecognizable” and “she’s gone to filters because she doesn’t want us to know how bad she actually looks now in her 40s.”
She deeply cares for her children
Now that she’s a mother of three, Autumn, 11; Atticus, nine; and Aidan, three, her perspective on how fans view her changed, saying: “I have a daughter, I’m sensitive to it because I don’t want my kids to read those things and feel that way… or worry about me being hurt by it… it’s hard to do that sometimes.”
They are following in her footsteps
Hewitt’s daughters are following in her footsteps, where they were involved in the Christmas movie, The Holiday Junkie. This movie was Hewitt’s first Christmas movie and was directed by her.
The main character, Andie, has a tough time navigating the holidays after tragically losing her mother.
Her husband was in the movie, too
In The Holiday Junkie, what lightens the weight of Andie’s loss is her newly-found love interest, who is played by Hewitt’s real-life husband, Brian Hallisay.
The couple first met on the set of Love Bites and eventually got married in November 2013. They now share three kids together.
Hewitt gives her younger self some advice
Hewitt talked about how she was always “a worrywart.” Yes, she was present in the moment and tried to enjoy it but her worrying always came in the way.
“I think I would just say to her, like, ‘Look, it’s going to work out. You’re going to start getting old, and they’re still going to let you do things… it’s OK. You’re fine,’” is what she would tell her younger self.
