Hewitt's disrobing act may land her in trash

by Sue Ontiveros
Sun-Times Columnist

I've got a little advice for Jennifer Love Hewitt: Keep your clothes on! Word on the street -- and in the Sun-Times Fluff section on Sundays -- is that the star of TV's "Ghost Whisperer" would like meatier roles beyond TV.

So she is thinking of changing her answer to "yes" the next time Playboy asks her to bare all. A nude appearance in Playboy will squash her girl-next-door image and get her treated more like a grownup, appears to be the thinking.

Bad idea.

Now I am sure lots of men, probably even those with Hollywood power, would tell Hewitt they'd like to see her naked in the pages of Playboy. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know men like to see attractive young women posing without clothing. Heck, their eyes would be riveted on a not-so-hot female, too, if she were buck naked.

They like looking at naked women, period. Duh! No doubt a few provocative poses in Playboy will bring Hewitt notoriety.

But notoriety and fame are two different things.

There's little evidence that posing nude will bring Hewitt better roles and have people in power treat her more seriously. Oh, sure, Marilyn Monroe was the "star" of the first issue of Playboy, and she did appear in several memorable films.

But let's not forget that in the end she was alone and lonely and dead of an overdose. Many Hollywood actresses have been in Playboy. Our town's own Jenny McCarthy has been in it pretty darn often. But when was the last time -- or any time -- she was in anything but a B-list movie?

And for every Charlize Theron who has made an appearance in Playboy -- nude or not -- there are many more actresses whose careers are relegated to the trash heap after posing for Playboy.

Remember Tia Carrere. (Who?) Worse yet, there's Anna Nicole Smith. These are not career paths anyone should want to follow.

When exactly did a female getting naked become the way to win friends and influence people? (Dale Carnegie must be spinning in his grave.) Perhaps Hewitt got the idea from the string of young female entertainers who have taken it all off and talked about everything to show how "mature" they are.

Jessica Biel wanted everyone to know she was more of a woman than her character Mary on that sweet show "Seventh Heaven." According to Biel's logic: What better way to prove one's maturity than exposing her under-age breasts in a frank Gear magazine article. Yep, that has brought her a lot of award-winning roles.

Better to follow the lead of Reese Witherspoon. You never caught Reese showing or telling all to any magazine that asked. And where is she now? Making room on the mantel for her Oscar, probably.

So Jennifer, forget dropping your drawers and focus on your acting skills instead. That's a path to success you can be proud of. And that's the bald-faced truth.