‘90s Teen Dream Girl: Jennifer Love Hewitt Edition

It’s time to take a look back at one of our favorite ‘90s stars, one of the ultimate dream girls of the era, none other than… Jennifer Love Hewitt! She has been consistently busy throughout her career, from childhood through to her teen years and on into adulthood. Today, we’re going to take a look back and celebrate some of her most memorable ‘90s roles.

Born in a small town in Texas, Jennifer got her start in the entertainment industry at a very young age (just three years old!) she sang a song at a Texas livestock show. That led to her further developing her talents with dance classes until at just age nine she became a member of the Texas Show Team, which toured the then Soviet Union. At age ten, talent scouts recommended to her mother that they move to Los Angeles to pursue a career.

Once in LA, Jennifer quickly started landing a number of commercials, including a number of Barbie commercials. But her first big break came with Kids Incorporated, which combined both singing and acting. From then on, she had consistent roles with varying levels of notoriety until she really hit it big with a guest starring role on Party of Five. What shot her into major stardom, though, was her role in the teen horror I Know What You Did Last Summer. From then on, she became something of a household name, and has been acting consistently in movies and TV since.

Her childhood love of music also continued throughout her teen years, as she released a handful of albums, with varying levels of success. Though she hasn’t focused on music as much recently, who knows what the future holds?

Before we look back at some of her most memorable roles from the ‘90s and early ‘00s, take a look at some commercials she was in:

Kids Incorporated (1989 - 1991)

We have a whole post dedicated to Kids Incorporated where you can read all about this goofy variety show. Jennifer joined the show during its sixth season, where she went by the name Love Hewitt. It only lasted one more season after she joined the show.

Party of Five (1995 - 1999)

Jennifer started out as a guest star on Party of Five in season two with a nine-episode arc with her role of Sarah Reeves, the love interest of Scott Wolf’s character Bailey. This morphed into a series regular role, and she stayed on the show through to its final season.

House Arrest (1996)

In the family comedy House Arrest, siblings lock up their parents in the basement after learning they are going to separate in an attempt to get them back together. Some other local kids find out about this plan and lock up their parents as well, including Jennifer’s character, who also happens to be the love interest of the main character. While this isn’t necessarily Jennifer’s biggest or most memorable role, if you grew up in the ‘90s, you probably remember this movie.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Of course, I Know What You Did Last Summer truly shot Jennifer to fame. She starred as the lead in this teen horror thriller written by Kevin Williamson, who also wrote Scream as well as created Dawson’s Creek. You know, just a couple small things. This movie also starred Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Ryan Phillippe, a pretty stacked cast for the late ‘90s.

Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)

Can’t Hardly Wait is a classic ensemble teen romantic comedy from the ‘90s. Jennifer starred as the dream girl that one of the lead characters, played by Ethan Embry, pines after. It also features a cast of characters including Seth Green, Lauren Ambrose, and Peter Facinelli, with some cameos by Jerry O’Connell, Melissa Joan Hart, and Jenna Elfman.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)

This sequel features Jennifer along with Freddie Prinze Jr. returning to their roles from the first film, along with Brandy and Mekhi Phifer. Honestly, the sequel really isn’t that great, and it didn’t get the best reviews either. They really rushed this one into production to try to capitalize on the success of the first.

Time of Your Life (1999 - 2000)

Jennifer’s character Sarah from Party of Five was so popular that she got her own spinoff show, Time of Your Life, where she moves to New York City to learn more about her biological parents. But, the show couldn’t capture the success of the original, despite also starring some an up and comer named, oh, Jennifer Garner. The show was canceled midway through its first season, only airing 12 of the 19 episodes shot. It wasn’t until 2021 that all of the episodes aired on getTV.

What were your favorite ‘90s roles of Jennifer’s? Any we missed that you adored? Let us know in the comments!

Jennifer was offered the role of Robin Scherbatsky on How I Met Your Mother, but she turned it down. Funnily enough, it is eventually revealed that Robin was a teen TV and music star, much like Jennifer.
Jennifer’s mother was originally going to just name her Love, but her brother convinced her mom to give her the first name Jennifer so that people wouldn’t think she was weird. Nonetheless, Love has been a nickname for all of her life.
Jennifer married her co-star from the TV series The Client List, Brian Hallisay. They have three children together.
Jennifer is distantly related to singer Patsy Cline – she was her grandmother’s cousin.
Jennifer has appeared in a few music videos over the years, including ones for LFO and Enrique Iglesias.

Jennifer was offered the role of Robin Scherbatsky on How I Met Your Mother, but she turned it down. Funnily enough, it is eventually revealed that Robin was a teen TV and music star, much like Jennifer.
Jennifer’s mother was originally going to just name her Love, but her brother convinced her mom to give her the first name Jennifer so that people wouldn’t think she was weird. Nonetheless, Love has been a nickname for all of her life.
Jennifer married her co-star from the TV series The Client List, Brian Hallisay. They have three children together.
Jennifer is distantly related to singer Patsy Cline – she was her grandmother’s cousin.
Jennifer has appeared in a few music videos over the years, including ones for LFO and Enrique Iglesias.