SEXY TEEN POSTER GIRL TURNS INTO STUNT HERO

by Sean Daly - Special To The Star

LOS ANGELES — Jennifer Love Hewitt knew all eyes were on her. Standing centre stage at the Universal Amphitheater during last month's Teen Choice Awards, the 23-year-old Texan sang for the first time in front of a live audience while trying her best to avoid noticing stars like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake seated in the front row.

"I didn't know whether to pee or sing when I saw them," she gushed nervously afterward. "So I just pretended they were not there and I sang to the kids that wouldn't throw things at me."

Turns out the former Party Of Five actress was all worked up for nothing. Her performance of "Barenaked" — the title song from her new album, due Oct. 8 — earned a standing ovation and prompted r 'n' b singer Ashanti to exclaim: "I thought she was hot. She's showin' versatility. She could be a big music star."

But not all of Hewitt's anxieties are as easily calmed. She remains deathly afraid of being under water — a fear she had to confront last year in Toronto while filming The Tuxedo, which opens today.

In the new comedy, Jackie Chan stars as a hapless cabbie-turned-chauffeur who discovers his million-dollar tux has magical powers. But it can't help save a rookie government agent (Hewitt) from nearly being drowned by a group of villains.

"There were times when we were shooting that particular scene that she would get out of the water and just break down crying out of fear," recalls director Kevin Donovan. "There was no stunt person and you could see her face as she is being dipped into the water. She finally got up out of the pool, collapsed on the floor and just broke down."

And that was just the beginning. During the three-month shoot, Hewitt also sustained injuries to both knees, pulled a hamstring and broke both her middle finger and her ankle. "I also cracked my head open," she reports. "I was hit in the head with a night stick."

So much for the two weeks of training she received in basic karate, boxing and martial arts before getting her final fight-scene instructions directly from Chan. "Jackie trained me 15 minutes before each stunt I had to do," she reveals. "It was scary the first couple of times because I was doing it in front of Jackie Chan. If I was doing it in front of Carrot Top, I probably wouldn't have cared."

But Chan was impressed:

"Jennifer surprised me; she's very good," he said. "She trained in dance, so she is very flexible ... and she is kind of crazy, like me."

Hewitt is also happy to clear up rumours about her personal life. She scoffs at whispers about a romance with singer-songwriter John Mayer ("We're just friends," she insists), giggles about the "guilty pleasure" in her CD player (Cher's Greatest Hits — "I love to pretend I'm Cher") and admits she lives each day by one simple mantra: "Dance like no one else is watching, love like your heart has never been broken and work like you don't need the money."

She also sheds light on a few other burning mysteries:

Who is she dating ... this week?

Nobody. In fact, Hewitt insists she has "never even met" most of the men she has been linked to in the press. "I think possibly the fact that I am always being written about as going out with everyone is hurting my game," she says. "They make me out to be this total 'ho. I can't imagine a guy going, `So, you're not busy tonight with the other 75 ... Wanna go out with me?' I have to disappear for a while, go to Alaska, let people stop writing about me, then maybe guys will start asking me out again."

Who was her first rock star crush?

The Monkees' Davey Jones. "I've had an obsession with him since I was 8 and I saw him take Marsha Brady to the prom," she gushes. "I also loved New Kids On The Block. I used to have their sheets on my bed and I would only sleep on my Joey McIntyre pillow because I thought somehow at night he was kissing me softly while I was sleeping."

Would she consider dating Eminem?

No. "He's too wordy," she laughs. "Can you imagine? Like I would ever get into a fight with that guy! There would be a song called `She's The Worst Girlfriend Ever — I Wanna Hit Her In The Face!'"

What's up with her sexy image?

"I think the sex appeal thing is fine," says Hewitt, who jokingly refers to her breasts as "the twins." "I kind of feel like while I am young and I can fit into those dresses and wear those things and look that way, I should probably take advantage of it."

Any strange fan encounters?

Hewitt once received a letter from a man about to be executed on death row. "I was the last person he wrote to before he died," she remembers. "It was a beautiful letter about how I made him smile and how he watched me on television. He said I was the last person he wanted to say `thank you' to before his life ended. That letter is one of my most prized possessions."