Jennifer Love Hewitt talks being Sexualized as a Teen in Hollywood

The actress recalled how men would openly joke about her body, particularly after her movie, “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

Jennifer Love Hewitt said it was “heartbreaking” that despite her efforts in the film, the focus was not on her talent as an actress but on her body.

Speaking on a recent episode of Mayim Bialik’s “Breakdown” podcast, Hewitt reflected on the unsettling experience of being overly sexualized as a teenager, recalling how it was once normalized in Hollywood.

The “Ghost Whisperer” star, now 45, opened up about the inappropriate attention she received in her early years.

“There were grown men talking to me at 16 about my breasts openly on a talk show, and people were laughing about it,” she shared. “It was a culture that was fully accepted, but when you sit and you look at where we are now versus then, it is really mind-blowing.”

Hewitt admitted that being labeled a “sex symbol” before she even understood the concept felt “really strange,” adding, “I didn’t know what being sexy meant.”

She recalled how men would approach her with unsettling remarks after posing for Maxim in 1999 at just 17.

“People would openly walk up and be like, ‘I took your magazine with me on a trip last week,” Hewitt said, per Page Six. “I didn’t really know what that meant. It’s kind of gross.”

Later in the conversation, Hewitt recalled how comments about her body became a running joke after “I Know What You Did Last Summer” was released.

“When the movie came out, everybody said, ‘Oh, I know what your breasts did last summer,’ and that was like the joke,” she shared. “And, again, everybody would laugh, so I would laugh. It was supposed to be funny, I guess. It didn’t register with me that this is a grown man talking to me about my breasts on national television.”

Despite the uncomfortable situation, the “Client List” star clarified that she doesn’t hold grudges against those who made the remarks.

“It was a culture that was fully accepted. They were allowed to believe that that was appropriate, and I answered the questions and laughed right along with them,” Hewitt admitted.

Hewitt, who starred in “Party of Five,” also recalled feeling self-conscious about her body.

“I had bigger boobs for a smaller person, and so it was embarrassing,” she said. “I didn’t want to be looked at by a 40-year-old in Pizza Hut.”

The actress noted that she “always wore big clothes” to avoid unwanted attention.

After starring in “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” Hewitt shared that she was frustrated that the focus shifted almost entirely to her chest rather than her performance.

“I had worked so hard trying to be good in a horror movie, and I really wanted people to walk away from the movie going, ‘That’s a really good actress,'” she said.

“And, instead, every headline, and I’m not even joking, for 10 or 12 years after that, before they ever mentioned anything about talent or if I had played a part or changed myself for a part or – it was always about my breasts, always first.”

The actress recalled feeling disheartened by how her work was overshadowed.

“That felt … it was just like, ‘Come on, I’m working so hard. I’m growing. I’m trying so hard, like crying from my heart week after week for you,'” she said. “And the only thing that you see is a movie poster with boobs on it. That was heartbreaking for me.”

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Hewitt discussed how ageism has impacted her lengthy career in Hollywood and how she is embracing the journey of self-love and aging with grace.

The 45-year-old actress shared: “I feel like fans pick this age that they love that they think represents you, and you’re never supposed to grow beyond that. For me, it was like me and my 20s. People seem to have a really hard time accepting that I don’t look that way anymore.”

She continued: “It’s hard because I think as humans, we want to evolve … we want to have lines on our faces, and you know, our boobs be lower from breast-feeding our children, or you know, our butt’s bigger.”

“Whatever it is, you just want to have the freedom to be whoever you are at that age. And it’s hurtful sometimes when people reject you as you are verbally on Instagram or the internet because they’re having a hard time adjusting to it,” Hewitt added.

Hewitt, who shares children Autumn, 11, Atticus, 9, and Aidan, 3, with her husband, Brian Hallisay, expressed her concerns about how negative comments affect her kids.

“I have a daughter, I’m sensitive to it because I don’t want my kids to read those things and feel that way … or worry about me being hurt by it … it’s hard to do that sometimes,” she explained.

However, despite the public’s reaction to her aging, Hewitt shared that she is at peace with where she is in life.

“Age is age,” she noted. “I think women really come into this … acceptance of themselves and comfortability in their 40s that is beautiful. I love being in my 40s. I really do.”