Jennifer Love Hewitt: Love of the Party

Q: Have you ever written a fan letter?

A: Yeah. To Johnny Depp. He's my favorite. There's a whole Johnny Depp story. He came by the Party of Five set specifically so that I could meet him because our lighting guy knew him and told him that I was a fan. It was one of those days when you just show up in your sweats and no makeup and I just looked hideous. So I'm in my trailer when the wardrobe girl goes, "Johnny Depp is standing right outside." I looked outside and sure enough he was there. I threw myself on my trailer floor screaming hysterically, "I can't meet him! I can't meet him!" So I ran right out, right past him--screaming-- and I locked myself in the makeup trailer. Afterwards, I couldn't believe I'd acted that way. I was so humiliated. Then, Columbia [Pictures] got me premiere tickets to Donnie Brasco and I waited so long outside the theater to see him that they gave away my seat and I couldn't go to the movie. But I called out to him as he was walking in and he turned around and looked at me and waved--it felt like it was in slow motion. So while the movie was playing I went to where the after-party was and I said to the guard, "This is the situation. I have to meet him. It's been a whole adventure." So the guard took me in and I got to meet Johnny. And he knew exactly who I was. He was like, "Thanks for all the sweet things that you've said about me." Then he called me one day on the set of Party of Five just to see how I was doing.

Q: What does his voice sound like?

A: Butter. Then after my graduation, I got this basket of the most beautiful flowers you've ever seen with a note from Johnny Depp saying, "I know how hard it is in this business to do what you did. Congratulations. I'm very proud of you. All my love, Johnny." He's such an angel.

Q: Scott Wolf played your love interest for quite a while on Party of Five. Isn't there something almost inappropriate about being a teenager and getting paid to make out with a guy who's over 10 years older than you?

A: It is weird but I decided to look at it as if I was doing justice for every other 16-year-old who's ever wanted to kiss a 28-year-old. Scott's a good kisser and very nice. It was wonderful. It's not as weird now, but before I turned 18, we'd be in the middle of a make-out scene and my 10 1/2 hours would be up and I'd have to go home.

Q: What's your fantasy Party of Five episode?

A: Bailey and Sarah get married. I just wanna wear the dress.

Q: On the show, Scott cheated on you and you didn't take him back. Would you do the same thing in real life?

A: Yeah. It's funny because that actually happened at the same point in my life that we were filming that stuff so it was very therapeutic for me.

Q: I take it it wasn't with your current boyfriend, Will Friedle from TV's Boy Meets World. How did you two meet?

A: We were set up on a blind date almost three years ago and he never called me afterwards. So I called him because I decided it was the '90s thing to do. He had another girl at his house. Then he came in to audition for the lead in this movie that I was doing, Trojan War, and he got the part and that was it.

Q: Did you get together during the movie or after?

A: After. I was dating Joey Lawrence at the time of the movie. Actually, my first kiss with Will took place in the movie. I thought Will was a wonderful human being, but I didn't really look at him in a romantic way because I had a boyfriend. But when we did the screen kiss, we were standing on the back lot of Warner Bros, and he just looked perfect in the moonlight and I just knew it was going to be sweet. And we kissed and it was one of the most unbelievable kisses I'd ever had.

Q: Did you keep blowing the takes so you'd have to kiss again?

A: [Laughs] We did it like six or seven times. It was great.

Q: So did you break up with Joey to go with Will?

A: No. The polite way of putting it is that the business got the better of our relationship. The one thing that I'll always be grateful for is that I got to see a much different side of Joey than what people think, and if he called me and said that he needed something, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

Q: I always see Joey at this sushi place in the Valley.

A: That's all we used to do, eat. When I went out with him I gained, like, 13 pounds.

Q: What's the most outrageous thing you've ever done in pursuit of a crush?

A: Gotten on a plane and flown to where the guy was just to be near him for 24 hours. I had other things to do, and I just dropped it all because I wanted to be near him. I was on the plane thinking, "I've seen one too many John Hughes movies."

Q: So you weren't already seeing each other?

A: Not really. I just said, I have to come visit. And it paid off.

Q: When you were going through puberty and working, did you ever worry about what you were going to grow into and if you'd still be cute when you were older?

A: Definitely. You wonder who you're going to shape up to be. I got really lucky, though, that through most of my puberty I was playing teenage angst characters so I got all of that stuff out at work. When I came home I was stress-free and relaxed.

Q: You live with your mother. What does she do?

A: She was a speech pathologist but now she helps me with all the things that I need help with. For 17 years she worked with chemically dependent and special children and she stopped her life because her little girl said, "Mom, I really want to do this. Can we go?"

Q: When you first arrived in L.A. as a child performer, did you feel pressure to succeed?

A: No. We only came out to California for one month to give it a try. Now I've been here for nine years. But before I went on my first audition, my mom and I did our secret handshake and she said, "You have to promise me no matter what happens, if you don't have a good time, if it's not fun, we go somewhere far, far away."

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