It scarcely needs stating, yet as a gentle reminder, sex symbols are flesh-and-blood individuals too. In a recent interview with Vulture, Jennifer Love Hewitt unveiled that she's still grappling with a profound identity crisis that struck her in the early 2000s. The actress, who shot to fame at 15 in 1995 with her role in the hit TV series "Party of Five," found herself objectified almost instantly, despite her tender years.
"Before I had even a semblance of understanding what sex entailed, I was branded a sex symbol," Hewitt confided to Vulture. "To this day, I'm not entirely sure I've defined it for myself, given how bizarrely it all began."
The star of "9-1-1" admitted to the publication that, albeit reluctantly, she embraced her性感女神 image to propel her career forward. However, it never truly resonated with her core self, which she repeatedly described as "goofy."
In 2007, Hewitt's sense of self took a dramatic turn when she embarked on a Hawaiian vacation with her then-fiancé Ross McCall. The couple spent a blithe day frolicking on the sands, only for Hewitt to be met with a harsh reality the following morning. People magazine featured the couple's beach photos as a cover story, emblazoned with the headline, "Stop Calling Me Fat!"
The actress who captivated audiences in "Can't Hardly Wait" described the experience as devastating. "I don't believe I was ever truly insecure until that cover. And since then, I'm not sure I've ever fully recovered," Hewitt lamented. "A part of me constantly wonders if this version will suffice, or if I'll ever face such scrutiny again, with someone remarking, 'Hey, look at her without makeup at the dry cleaners – she looks 59!'"
Hewitt's pain transcended mere vanity. She poignantly recounted her thoughts at the time those so-called "unflattering" photos were captured. "I was having the time of my life," she reminisced. "I had concocted the silliest song about munching snacks and playing in the ocean, belting it out to my boyfriend while performing bizarre dance moves. They snapped the picture, and voilà, it adorned the cover."
She further elucidated why this incident left an indelible mark on her. "That was me," she confessed to Vulture about the candid paparazzi shots. "I think that's why the insecurity lingered. I hadn't even pieced it together until now."
"I remember thinking, 'Oh my God, I was being myself for once, and this is what happened,'" she said.
This isn't the first time Hewitt has aired her grievances about her appearance eclipsing her true essence. Earlier this year, she recounted the "gross" comments she endured after starring in the 1997 film "I Know What You Did Last Summer."
"Everyone said, 'Oh, I know what your breasts did last summer,'" Hewitt elaborated on an episode of "Mayim Bialik's Breakdown." She also expressed her irritation with the film's promotional strategy. "I was furious that after working so hard on my first movie, all anyone saw was a movie poster featuring boobs," she fumed.
Hewitt revealed to Vulture that her current role in "9-1-1" marks the first time since "Party of Five" that audiences are genuinely engaged with her performance, rather than her physique. "It was initially about the work, then it shifted to the body – not the body of work," Hewitt noted. "Now, we're returning to the essence of the work."