| By Fred Topel
In Theaters June 16
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You don’t have to wait until Ghost Whisperer returns this fall to get your Jennifer Love Hewitt fix. The actress worked extra hard to have Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties in theaters this summer, shooting her scenes on weekends while the show was in production. Hewitt reprises her role of Liz the veterinarian.
Lovely Love worried “Not because it was actually that taxing but more I just worried that I was going to work really hard all week, sometimes on Fridays we do night shoots and so I won’t wrap until five or six o’clock in the morning on a Saturday which means I sleep until two o’clock in the afternoon which means from two o’clock until nine, when I go to bed, is basically my weekend and then I’d go to sleep and get up and go to Garfield. I just kept having this fear that I was going to get to Garfield and just not be good and not give [Breckin Meyer] what he deserved out of his fellow actor and be grumpy or not well or whatever it was and then go back on Monday and still not be good on Ghost Whisperer either because I hadn’t caught up. I’m sort of a workaholic and you can’t really pass up something that you love.”
Working with Meyer made things easier, since they have been friends since 1998’s Can’t Hardly Wait. “It was really fun. This is the third job we’ve done together. We they called about doing the second one, I was like, ‘It’s Breckin and I, right? He’s definitely there?’ because I didn’t know what they were going to do. They said, ‘Sbsolutely’ and I was like, ‘Sold. Fine. Be there.’ So he was the biggest reason that I wanted to come back and do another one with the opportunity to work together. He’s a really good guy and we have a lot of fun and it doesn’t feel like work when we’re together. It’s fun.”
Since Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties features even more talking animals than the original, much of the cast is digitally added in with CGI in post-production. Hewitt is used to working this way, as the ghosts on Ghost Whisperer are also added in later. “We always do what we call an MOG shot, Mit Out Ghost. We do the master first with them. They always let me do it first with them standing there so that I know what they are doing, what they’re looking like so it’s much easier than what he had to do in this movie. Then they take them away and have me stand there and do the same thing with the close ups or the over-the-shoulders. They do one with them there and one where they’re out. Most of the time, we’re not playing the whole scene so I’ll just do my lines and I won’t have anybody speaking in between. I’ll just read my lines as I know them. It’s weird. It was weird to get used to the first time.”
When Ghost Whisperer shoots on location, Hewitt can become the center of attention for the wrong reasons. “It’s only embarrassing when we’re shooting outside with Melinda in the middle of the park and everybody’s looking at her like, ‘What’s wrong with this person?’ And we have new extras on the show who don’t know what the show’s about and they’re like, ‘Why is she standing there talking to herself? This is weird.’ And, you’ll hear them talking sometimes, like, ‘What’s this stupid show about? What is she doing in the middle of the park?’ And I don’t have time to go up and explain to them that I’m not really weird, that I’m talking to somebody. They just can’t see them.”
After television launched Hewitt to success, she is surprised to find herself returning to the format. Given the changes in the industry, and a previous show that did not last, Hewitt is happy her risk paid off. “Any time you do a project you never really know how people are going to take it especially on TV. I think they used to be more forgiving with shows than they are now. Shows got a bigger chance so yeah, I was really surprised and happily surprised by it and a little nervous to go into a second season and hopefully be able to do bigger and better than we did in the first season and have people still watch.”
For young fans who don’t remember Sarah Reeves, Ghost Whisperer’s Melinda Gordon could be Hewitt’s defining role. “She’s just a defining person really so if it becomes a defining role for me, it would be an honor. I’d be really, really happy with that. She’s a great woman to play. What she tries to do for the world, with her gift or without, is pretty extraordinary.”
Now that her double duty is over, Hewitt is enjoying a nice, quiet summer. “I chose not to work. There were a couple of things I could have gone and done and I was like, ‘Do I go and work or do I actually take the great opportunity given to me that I may never have again which is that I know the show is coming back and just take a month and a half or two months to just rest?’ So, other than doing a few publicity things here and there, I’ve really done nothing. There is more stuff that I’ve learned how to cook and I’ve laid out in the sun and played with my dog and just kind of been a person, which is extremely important because, come July 10th, I’ll no longer be a person. For nine months it’ll just be work, work, work. So, I’ve just rested.”
Guests at the Hewitt house can sample shrimp scampi with red peppers and more. “I’ve become a Risotto person, which I now make and steak and really good spaghetti.”
Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties opens June 16. |
