The Tuxedo - Jennifer Love Hewitt Interview

Here, in a no-holds barred interview, she also talks happily about her karaoke skills, her obsessive compulsive nature, using PMS to play Satan, and her inability to get a date.

The running gag in the film is 'nice rack.' Do you get tired of all the breast jokes?

No, I actually thought they were very funny and cute. You have to laugh. I don't care. Until the last three days I didn't notice. It didn't dawn on me until people started saying 'are you ok that they are poking fun at things people say about you?'

Is it true that Jackie Chan didn't even know what 'nice rack' actually meant when he says it to you?

(Laughs) It's true. He'd say the line and then wonder why everyone was cracking up.

How was working with Jackie?

It was amazing. He has always been a hero of mine. You know I grew up on Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies and Jackie Chan has always been a hero for me action wise, so not only to be in a movie with him and just meet him as a person and feel like a four year old who had won the chance to spend time with their favourite superhero but I also for the first time in my life doing any sort of action got taught by the best, so I felt very lucky.

You were quoted recently as saying, 'My breasts have a career of their own, and it's going better than mine.'

(Shrieks) Yes, it's true! The reason I said it was because I was being asked, yet again, about my boobs, and so I suggested that they might get separate billing soon. And I do feel sometimes their career is going better as everyone always asks me about them, so I was just being cheeky.

Still on this theme, is it true that your new CD is titled BareNaked?

Yes, but it's different. It sounds very provocative but it really isn't, I promise. It's really referring to feeling a bit insecure about whether people will like it or not.

Were you tempted to call it Bare Butt Naked?

(Laughs) No, it's just a play on feeling vulnerable and naked in that sense.

Let's leave your boobs alone for a second and move onto other body parts.

Let's. They're resting, they're sleeping.

You were just voted number 7 of the sexiest women.

I know, it is the craziest thing I have ever heard. I am not sure what I did to deserve that position. I find that whole thing fascinating but I don't understand it.

Is there a sexuality that you turn on?

Oh no, that is the hardest part for me to find in every character I play, I don't get it at all. I am incredibly flattered by it but I kind of feel like it is charitable [laughs] I feel like they are like 'well she doesn't really have much to offer so we will just let her be number 7 this year' [laughs].

You beat out Angelina Jolie and Carmen Electra.

I did? Well there is something wrong. There is something very wrong! I am not really sure what is going on. There is a problem that should be looked at.

What's your best feature apart from your breasts?

I don't think I have one. People say I have a great smile and great teeth. I have a crooked one. I love the whole Austin Powers joke about British teeth. That makes me laugh so much.

Have you ever dated a Brit?

No, so I don't really know all about bad teeth (laughs). But I've been to Britain and I had the best time. In fact, I'm going to film a movie there later this year, a romantic drama I'm doing with my production company that is set in London. We'll be shooting there for two months and I can't wait. I've been there before for a few days at a time and it was always great fun. I love the flight there. I love British Airways and Virgin and the way they give you pajamas. I love that! Only British people give you that when you fly. And they give you socks.

Your kicks are pretty impressive in the film. How did you do that?

I think it is from dancing and doing ballet that I am pretty flexible so that means that I can get up. They always think I am much taller than I am. I am only 5'3 but people think I am really tall because I have a very long legs. So it looks more impressive because I have long legs but it really isn't that special or anything.

In 'Tuxedo' you hug Jackie but there's no kissing. What happened?

(Laughs) I know, I've kissed so many people in films - over 200 I think. This is actually the first one I've done with no kissing scene. Crazy. I'm having withdrawals.

Even after 200 such scenes and so much practise, it must be weird?

It is very weird and strange, as you don't know people. Thank God I'm not a germ-conscious person. 200 people? I've got some stuff going on, I'm convinced.

Ever had a nightmare kissing scene with bad breath, the works?

Never, thank God! I've been very lucky so far.

Would you ever do nudity?

No, though I don't like to say never as I think you always change, and your opinions, but so far I haven't been comfortable about it at all.

So what about someone like Madonna who seems to have no qualms?

I think she's so lucky that she's so brave. I wish I was that brave and I wish I was that comfortable with myself that I'd want to do that.

And you're not?

No, no. Just a bit of cleavage.

What's the best pick up line some guy ever used on you?

I don't know, but here's the worst. He said something like 'The shirt you're wearing would go perfectly with my bedroom carpet.' Gross! It was at some party and I just turned away and waited for him to leave. Oh! This is the classic one. I had another guy ask me if I was a model and would I model for a high voltage company? And I made the mistake of saying 'Why?' And he said, 'Because you're electric.' Oh my God, people! Can you imagine? Scary. I'd like to pull them aside and say, 'Let me give you some advice. These lines will never work for you. Ever. Let mama help you.'

Ever had a nightmare date?

I've had a couple, not super-nightmare, just the basic 'he's completely wrong for you.' But I'm so fearful that I'll miss the Big One in my life that I'll know within ten minutes if someone's not right for me, and I'll spend like 4 hours with them, going through with the plans, hoping to God that it changes.

You're obviously very patient and very polite, and deserve to find Mr. Right.

I hope so, but I haven't yet.

Is it hard meeting nice guys?

It's not hard meeting nice men, it's just hard meeting The One. Very hard.

Maybe you're just too busy.

I'm never too busy to have a boyfriend, and I'm a great girlfriend because I pay attention and I write them nice letters and I send presents, and it doesn't matter how busy I am, they'll always feel important. Always. So I should have a great boyfriend. But they don't like me.

Why not?

I don't know, and I don't want to ask any of my past boyfriends because I don't care! (Laughs) I don't want to know what they'll say. They might say something mean. I don't think they would. I'm friends with a couple of exes.

But the other 3,000?

(Laughs) I haven't had that many boyfriends, contrary to what people say, which is that I'm dating 85 people at once. That's crazy as the truth is, I don't go on dates at all. I'm always home. Guys just don't invite me out, ever. It's sad. So I just sit at home and watch romantic comedies and dream of Mr Right. I swear this is all true. I'm dead serious.

Are you still looking for Mr. Right or have you given up?

I've stopped looking for now. I kind of want him to find me, I think. At some point I'd love to get married and have kids, but I don't want to do that now. I'd just like to have someone really fun to share all this great stuff with that happens. I mean, I share it with my family, obviously, and I love that, but I'd like to have someone to call at the end of the night and talk to - and someone who'd get me.

So what attracts you in a man?

A really good listener, and someone who doesn't expect anything from me but what I can possibly give, because I give everything all the time to people. I really do. I'll give someone I'm in a realtionship with everything that I have, but I can only do that if they don't expect more from me than that, you know what I mean? I try to accept people for what they can give. I never try to ask for more than that. I also love a great smile and someone who can make me laugh all the time. I think that's so important.

Do you find your choice of men is limited because of your work?

Yes, most of the guys I meet tend to be either musicians or actors, because those are the two worlds I spend most of my time in. But if I met a really nice normal guy who was nothing to do with any of that stuff, I wouldn't care at all - as long as he could be forgiving about that fact that my life is total chaos and completely different from a 9 to 5 life. Compared to that, my job's like a freak show.

What do you on those rare times when you're not working?

One of my favourite things is on Sundays if I'm off, my Mom and I'll go to her favourite restaurant in the morning, a place called Ernie's. She loves Mexican food in the morning, so we'll have a big breakfast and come back home and get on the little floaties we each have with my dog and lay in the pool and relax. Then in the afternoon my brother and his wife come over, and normally I invite a bunch of friends and so does she, and we have a big barbecue. It's mostly the same group every Sunday, and then we play games, like Outburst.

It all sounds so clean. Do you have any vices?

Ice cream and coke - I mean Coca Cola (laughs). I did try cocaine once and it didn't agree with me. But I'm obsessed with Coca Cola. I think I drink too much of it. And I'll eat any ice cream, but my favourite is Cookies 'n Cream.

OK. What's more important - sex or Coke?

(Laughs) Coke. I cannot live without Coke, but I can absolutely live without sex.

What do you spend your money on?

Clothes and presents for my friends. I love to buy presents. And I love cars - a little too much. I want the new T-Bird - the black one. It's gorgeous! Right now I drive a BMW X5 which I really love. I don't do well on low cars normally. I have to have an SUV so I can sit up high and feel I can smash people who get in the way.

Tell us more about your new CD.

It's kind of rock, pop and soul all mixed together. My big loves are Janis Joplin, Al Green, Billie Holliday, Bonnie Raitt and Etta James. 'At Last' is my favourite song to sing.

What don't you like?

I'm not into all the techno music. That's the only stuff I don't like. Most of it just gives me a headache.

Are you going to tour?

Hopefully next year, but I'll wait and see how the record does. If it doesn't do well I don't want to tour. I've been touring for the past four months doing radio promotion and performing in clubs and record stores, and that's been great. And then I start another film early next year.

No wonder you don't have a boyfriend. There's no time.

I'd make time, but I do love being busy. I'm starting to get really tired now, but I'm having a great time right now.

You seem very ambitious.

I am, incredibly, and the plan is, I want to succeed slightly in all fields that I've ever wanted to try. I can't say fully, as I don't want to get my hopes up. I'm also into producing, and I've had my own production company for the past three years. And I'd love to direct a film and music videos. And when I'm 80 I hope to have great stories for my grandchildren.

Have you ever tried karaoke?

It's so funny you mention that because I went to this karaoke bar with some friends the other night and got up and sang Avril Lavigne's hit single Complicated at this bar in Burbank, under the name Candy.

Did anyone recognize you?

No, and before I got up, this guy who was really drunk came over and said, 'Are you nervous?' And I said, 'Yeah, I am,' And he goes, 'I think you're gonna do great, because it's either wait tables or be a singer, and this is your big chance.' And after I'd sung, he came over again and told me, 'You know what? I think that singing in the shower's really paid off for you and between waiting tables and singing, maybe you should quit waiting tables and try singing professionally, sweetie. You're not so bad.' And I'm thinking, 'When did he get the impression I was a waitress?' Maybe I had the look because that night I had no make up and I was in jeans and a T-shirt and a baseball cap. Then on the way out, this girl runs over and says, 'Hey, I thought you were pretty good.' And I'm thinking, 'Pretty good?' Because I was singing my heart out up there. I'm going to go back there and I'm going to outsing everyone and have my American Idol moment.

Are you a tomboy when you're not going to an event?

Yeah, I love my jeans and T-shirt look.

Are you superstitious?

I am, especially about Friday the 13th. I always get a little freaked out that something will happen, so I won't do anything too daring - no karoake, no walking under ladders. I listen to the rules.

What did you inherit from your mother?

Everything. But I do have my dad's chest hair (cracks up). That'll help get me a date. Go on one with me and you can shave my chest hairs, boys! How exciting! You know how most women reach 40 and go, 'Oh my God! I'm totally turning into my mother'? Well, I was my mother the day I was born, and I'll always be her, which is great. I'm really strong like her, and very stubborn like her when it's something I really believe in. I'm also wild and off-the-wall personality-wise like her, and we both get emotional about the same things. I'm very emotional like her and feel things very deeply and get very sensitive, and I can always tell what she's thinking and vice versa. I also have a little OCD like her.

What's OCD?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (laughs). Except we have it about different things. My Mom counts steps, while I cannot go to sleep if there are any cabinet doors or closets open in my house. Very strange and weird, right? We even look alike a lot. I have pictures of her at my age and we look exactly the same. Scary.

Are you the jealous type?

I do get jealous in relationships, yes, but it's only because I'm insecure.

You're joking?

No, I really am, a little bit about everything, in a healthy amount. I think it's because I'm just 23 and I'm still trying to figure out who I am. I've had quite a different life from most 23-year-olds, and while I think there are certain things that your life changes about you, depending where you've lived and travelled and so on, there's also a certain amount of stuff that comes with being a young person that's just built in the DNA. And it doesn't go away until you get older, and I think sometimes that being in this business where you're always under a spotlight doesn't help with insecurities.

Are you romantic?

(Sighs) Hopeless! Pathetic! Roses, candlelight suppers, the works! And while a daydream for a normal person might be about something they want to do, for me it's sitting down every single day and making lists of roamntic things I can do for the love of my life someday. I've had my wedding planned since I was 12, one for every season. It's ridiculous! I am all the girls that are sappy losers in romantic comedies rolled into one. That's me. And someday some guy's going to be very lucky, whether he knows it or not.

What's the most romantic thing a man could do for you?

Do something for me before I think of doing it for them. That's a problem for me, and I think it's been a problem for me in my relationships because I always think of things first. The key for me is to have that thought, but let someone else do it for me, and wait until they do. I'm very impulsive, so I should just keep my mouth shut when I think of something. And it could be something so small. Like if a guy planned a date and it was just dinner and a movie, the fact that he'd thought of me and wanted to be with me and had done it first, I'd be moved to tears it would mean so much to me.

Whatever happened to The Devil and Daniel Webster? Will it ever be released?

Lord I hope so! I played the Devil and I made a pretty good Satan I think. I paid a lot of attention to how I chemically acted during PMS which is very good preparation for that because if you take the Midol away, wow, let me tell you I can be quite scary! When you think of me hopefully you don't think of Satan and so I had a really good time getting into it. It'll probably be the only role like that in my career so I had fun with it.