Still the Love.....

BEING roused from slumber by Jennifer Love Hewitt is a fantasy some men only dream about. It became a reality for me one Friday morning.

My mobile phone rang at 7 am, three hours ahead of my scheduled interview with the sizzling American actress and sometime singer.

'It's Love. I'm sorry if I've woken you up. It's just that we're running late for the other interviews,' she said apologetically, sounding beat after spending the entire day talking to the media in Los Angeles.

Visions of her sweet and virginal Sarah Reeves character in the cult TV series Party Of Five flickered in my mind. For once, I did not mind being awakened.

Hewitt, 23, is busy promoting her new single, Barenaked. An album - her fourth - bearing the same title and featuring eight songs she co-wrote, will be out on Sept 10.

She composed and co-produced most of the material with singer-songwriter Meredith Brooks who is best known for the hit song, Bitch.

Hewitt plays Del Blaine, a sexy rookie analyst and secret agent who helps him foil a plan to poison the world's drinking water.

CLAMS UP ON 2 B's

REPORTS say Hewitt clams up whenever the two B's - boyfriends and breasts - pop up in interviews. But she is candid when I broach both topics.

Are her 36C assets silicone-free? And is she uneasy with the constant attention paid to them?

'Of course they're real,' she replies, her almost-immediate retort coming hard and fast.

'It'd be great if people stopped focusing on them. I'm not necessarily uncomfortable, but it's not that exciting because everyone has a pair.'

Not me, the last time I checked, I reply, making her chortle somewhat.

She says there is no special guy in her life now. However, for Hewitt, the idea of love is not about trying too hard. It is an easy-come, easy-go notion.

'It's supposed to be comfortable and fun, like a best friend kind of thing. I've been very lucky and had great people in my life,' she says.

One such person, albeit on a strictly professional level, is her Tuxedo co-star, Chan.

'Jackie's the coolest and most wonderful guy to work with. I literally felt like a rookie next to him,' she gushes.

'I grew up watching his movies and have gotten hurt many times trying to jump off a sofa, and you know, imitate something he had done,' she adds.

Their first meeting, however, was totally tense, at first.

'I was terrified to meet him. I didn't know what to say, so I just hugged him right away. I didn't even say hello, and he looked at me kind of weird,' she recalls.

'Then, about 1 1/2 hours later, we were laughing and having a good time.'

Chan has been singing praises about Hewitt's ability to pick up stunts such as flying around the room and running up walls.

He has been quoted as saying: 'Even though we have a double, I'd rather use her. She's got rhythm and does the kicking movement better than the double.'

Despite her busy social and work life, however, the real Jennifer Love Hewitt is hardly half as exciting, she claims.

After work, she heads home to hang out with her divorced Mum. At the age of nine, Hewitt convinced her to move to Los Angeles from their home in Texas because she 'badly wanted to act'.

The move paid off when Hewitt landed a role in the second season of Party Of Five. The series, which ran from 1994 to 2000, depicted the struggles of five siblings after their parents are killed in a car crash. It became the Hollywood launchpad for Hewitt and her co-star Neve Campbell.

SURVIVING DUDS

Hewitt's post-Party credits include slasher flick I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), its sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and comedies like Can't Hardly Wait (1998), The Suburbans (1999) and last year's Heartbreakers.

Her star is certainly burning bright. She pocketed US$4 million (S$7 million) for her role in Heartbreakers. And her career seems to have suceeded with the telemovie The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) - in which her portrayal of the late screen legend was slammed - as well as an ill-starred 1999 TV spin-off of Party Of Five, called Time Of Your Life.

As a singer, however, she is less accomplished. Her last three albums of cheesy R&B-laced pop sank worldwide, except in Japan, where her records, like the ones put out by TV actress Alyssa Milano, sell like hot cakes.

She is hoping, of course, to change all that with the jangly adult-contemporary rock of Barenaked next month.

'It's the first time I'm getting so involved in the entire creative process and it's just less effort to sing a song you've written because you know the emotions that go behind it and what they represent.

'But I still felt bare naked releasing this record because I'm not sure if people are going to like it.'

In between projects, she has a blast, if you choose to believe her, soaking up in a bath, eating pizza, watching Fear Factor and playing with her dog.

Where the men fit in is a mystery. And no drugs, cigarettes or alcohol, either.

'Because of my character in Party Of Five, I've become a role model to young people and I like being one because I'm a pretty boring person.'

In these aspects, yes, but certainly not in the Love department.

Story: © 2002 Singapore Press Holdings in association with My Love Hewitt Websites. All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2002 VH1 International Inc. a Viacom Company/Love Songs inc. All Rights Reserved.