She's bad, hot, and hot......Also Love Spell almost had this project....

by Kate O'Hare

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Jennifer Love Hewitt is getting to play a bad girl with a heart of gold -- and some pretty hot outfits -- in a new TV movie.

On Saturday, March 12, 2005 @ 8:00 PM E/P, Oxygen premieres "Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber," an original movie based on the book by British writer Adele Lang. Hewitt plays Katya Livingston, a high-powered, 28-year-old ad exec forced to keep a financial diary for tax purposes, revealing her life as a dedicated fashionista, shameless party crasher and conniving would-be socialite.

Things change for Katya when she sees Charles Fitz (Colin Ferguson, "Coupling"), a handsome, nice attorney who seems to be the man of her dreams.

During a busy press junket, Hewitt takes a break to talk about the perks and challenges of bringing Katya Livingston to life.

Zap2it: What attracted you to playing a character that's just so mean?

Jennifer Love Hewitt: It was a chance for me to do something completely different from what people have seen me do. It was a chance to get in touch with my evil side. She's a monster. It was hilarious. I loved being able to wear all the clothes and do all the different hair and makeup. Good girls want to watch a movie like this so they can feel like a bad girl. When we're all at our cattiest, we're very much like Katya Livingston anyway. All women have it in them, so it's fine.

Zap2it: What did you think when you first heard the story?

Hewitt: I actually tried to buy the book to make into a film with my production company. I loved it and really wanted to do it. Somebody outbid us, and I didn't know who it was until three years later, when I got sent this script with an offer to play this part in a movie that Oxygen was doing. I was like, "Wait a second, isn't that ... ?" So, before I even read the script, I said "yes" to the project, because it had been my dream to play that part.

Zap2it: She had great outfits. Was that a perk of the job?

Hewitt: Some of those outfits are actually from my closet. It's my way of saying "thank you" for things designers have given me for different events, that they let you keep. So I took those outfits and gave them to the wardrobe department and said, "Let's put these in there. It'll be my way of saying 'Thank you for giving me these fantastic things for my closet that I can only wear once in Hollywood.'"

Zap2it: I loved the scene where Katya pines for a designer purse she can't afford, then bargains for a knockoff version on the sidewalk. Is that the sort of thing you do?

Hewitt: I have a fake Louis wallet that I carry in my real Louis Vuitton purse, that I bargained with a guy for. I bought the purse, but I couldn't be bothered to pay the other $180 for the wallet. So I saw it one day on the street, and I said, "Hmmm, I think I'll talk to this guy and see how much I can get for 10 bucks." I think knockoffs are great. Truly, after two weeks, you're over the purse anyway, so why spend the money when you could get four outfits for what you'd spend on a purse these days? I'd rather buy a knockoff.

Zap2it: Is Katya's style like your own?

Hewitt: A little bit, but I don't quite push myself up as much as she does. There are certain parts that you need to bring the girls out for, and they become a character in the movie. My cleavage, in this movie, is definitely part of Katya's thing.

Zap2it: Is she a bad girl with a heart of gold, or is she really just bad?

Hewitt: She's somebody that doesn't know that there's anything wrong with the way she behaves until she meets Charles and realizes that there are these really tremendous people out there. She's really good at surrounding herself with people who have the same kind of interests that she does. She saturates herself with it 24 hours a day. When she meets him, she realizes that there are these people out there who really don't care about the latest fashion, the best restaurant, the biggest party.

It probably clicks her back into who she was four years prior to meeting him, when she probably got fired from a job and wasn't the fashion plate, probably had braces when she was 13, when she wasn't the most popular girl in school. She's waited her entire life for her moment.

Zap2it: How did that girl transform herself into Katya?

Hewitt: She can get into all these parties because she's a fast talker. She's really good at her job. She's moved up the corporate ladder by stepping on people. No one has been there to tell her she's wrong. Charles is a reality check for her.

Zap2it: Will love truly make Kayta reform or will she revert to her party-girl ways?

Hewitt: I think she will always revert. They say there's somebody for everybody, and he's her somebody. He's the one person in the world that wouldn't want her to fully change. He appreciates the fact that she's willing to sell herself out for anything fabulous. It's her charm.

Zap2it: Of all the fabulous things you get to wear, what's your favorite?

Hewitt: The first dress I wear in the movie, at the wedding, the green dress, was a dress that I bought for myself at a thrift store. It's an actual 1952 prom dress. I got it for $150. I was so excited about wearing it to a Hollywood event, because I thought it was very Audrey Hepburn, Sandra Dee-ish. It's this great mint green; it's all lace. The work that went into this is amazing.

Zap2it: So are you a bad girl, or do you just play one?

Hewitt: I had no idea how to play this part when I got there. Every day, people were like, "You're still too nice, be more mean." But I'm like, "I can't stand myself. How are you guys doing it?" Then finally we'd do the one take when I was my most mean, and everybody would crack up. I'd be like, "OK, you guys are sick, but whatever." They made it a really safe place for me.

Story: © 2005 Tribune Media Services. All Rights Reserved.
Images: © 2005 Oxygen Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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