Garfield star pounces on her men

"When it comes to dating, I do more of the asking than getting asked," says Love Hewitt, who insists, "In my entire life I've only had two guys come up and ask me out." She says in all the other cases she had to "spend time with the guy either leading the conversation to where he'll ask me out, which basically amounts to spelling it out in block letters or they just don't get it."

Love Hewitt thinks some men "have gone too far in reacting to female empowerment. "I want to be respected as a strong, independent female, but I also like having a guy open doors for me, bring me flowers and pay me attention. "I don't consider myself a guy so I don't want to be treated like one of the guys. I'm a hopeless romantic and guys don't seem to know how to deal with that."

She's not really too upset that her love life is in limbo because she has been so busy jet-setting to her film locations. She recently returned from England where she filmed the romantic comedy The Truth About Love with Dougray Scott and Jimi Mistri. "It's a bit like Four Weddings and a Funeral meets Bridget Jones' Diary, and I got to play an English girl."

Now she's packing her bags for Budapest where she'll be filming a new musical version of A Christmas Carol. "Kelsey Grammer plays Scrooge. I play Emily, Scrooge's first love. It's a small part but I will get to sing, which thrills me. I would really like to be cast in a big movie musical."

After roles in numerous TV series and sitcoms, Love Hewitt got her big-screen breakout role in 1997's I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel the following year I Still Know What You Did Last! Summer. "There was talk for the longest time about a second sequel but plans kept falling through. "Finally I heard they were going to make a third one but not bring back anyone from the original cast, which I thought was a pretty cheesy idea. "That project fell through too, so I doubt there'll be a third Summer. It hasn't broken my heart. I felt I had finished with the killer fisherman anyway."

Love Hewitt turned 25 in February. "I went out bowling with family and friends. It was a really quiet night. It was special because of the people I was with, but not really special for any other reason."

Love Hewitt, who played Sarah Reeves for four seasons on Party of Five, says she's looking for a strong series to take her back to TV. "I helped create a series for ABC and we shot the pilot but they didn't pick us up. I've heard rumblings they're looking at it for next season." In that series, which is tentatively called In the Game, she would play "a 25-year-old single mother with a five-year-old. My character is an on-field reporter for ESPN. "I'm really hoping I get the call to run with it."