Post by Forever Xena on Jun 18, 2006 0:35:01 GMT -6
Hewitt Keeps Spirits Up for 'Ghost Whisperer'
Actress reflects on the show and how talking to ghosts can be exhausting
By Hanh Nguyen
June 16 2006
Jennifer Love Hewitt of 'Ghost Whisperer'LOS ANGELES -- Before heading back to work for her second season on the hit CBS show "Ghost Whisperer," Jennifer Love Hewitt reflects on the past TV season and how her character Melinda Gordon, a newlywed who helps earthbound spirits with their final tasks, may become a defining role for her.
"She's just a defining person really. So, if it becomes a defining role for me, it would be an honor," says the actress during an interview to promote her latest film, "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties." "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."
In May, the first season of the show concluded with Melinda's biggest and most heartwrenching task to date. She helps a plane full of crash victims cross over to the other side, but is devasted by the loss of person in particular. In the tearjerker finale, her friend, business partner and confidant Andrea (Aisha Tyler) died when the plane landed on her car.
'Ghost Whisperer' Showcard
"I'm a little nervous to go into a second season and, hopefully, [we'll] be able to do bigger and better than we did in the first season and have people still watch," says Hewitt. "We have some really exciting stuff happening in the very beginning of the show but it's all top secret."
But will Andrea be seen or heard from again? This is, after all, a show where getting killed doesn't necessarily mean the end.
"Maybe," says Hewitt coyly. "For a short period of time."
After a season of conversing with ghosts and then finishing "Garfield," in which the titular cat was added later with computer graphics, Hewitt is used to talking to thin air on camera.
"We always do what we call an 'MOG' shot, 'Mit Out Ghost,'" she says with a laugh because "mit" is German for "with." "They always let me do it first with them standing there so that I know what they are doing, what they're looking like. Then they take them away and have me stand there and do the same thing with the close ups or the over-the-shoulders.
"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," she continues. "It was weird to get used to the first time. 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? Why is she standing there talking to herself?'"
While all the supernatural stuff doesn't disturb her, the demands of leading a one-hour drama can get pretty taxing, a situation shared by other actors in the same boat.
"I'll see people who are the lead on a one-hour drama ... like Jennifer [Finnigan] from 'Close to Home' she'll come up and go, 'Oh my God. Are you okay?'" recalls Hewitt. "And I'm like, 'Are you sleeping?' and she goes, 'No, not really.' It's this small group of people who are absolutely just wrecked, the most unhealthy people ever but psyched to be there."
Not only does Hewitt have to learn lines for more scenes than any actor on her show, but she also has to be the set cheerleader to "keep the energy level up." So it's no wonder that this summer, she decided to relax and not take a summer job during her hiatus.
"Other than doing a few publicity things here and there, I've really done nothing," she says. "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."
Actress reflects on the show and how talking to ghosts can be exhausting
By Hanh Nguyen
June 16 2006
Jennifer Love Hewitt of 'Ghost Whisperer'LOS ANGELES -- Before heading back to work for her second season on the hit CBS show "Ghost Whisperer," Jennifer Love Hewitt reflects on the past TV season and how her character Melinda Gordon, a newlywed who helps earthbound spirits with their final tasks, may become a defining role for her.
"She's just a defining person really. So, if it becomes a defining role for me, it would be an honor," says the actress during an interview to promote her latest film, "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties." "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."
In May, the first season of the show concluded with Melinda's biggest and most heartwrenching task to date. She helps a plane full of crash victims cross over to the other side, but is devasted by the loss of person in particular. In the tearjerker finale, her friend, business partner and confidant Andrea (Aisha Tyler) died when the plane landed on her car.
'Ghost Whisperer' Showcard
"I'm a little nervous to go into a second season and, hopefully, [we'll] be able to do bigger and better than we did in the first season and have people still watch," says Hewitt. "We have some really exciting stuff happening in the very beginning of the show but it's all top secret."
But will Andrea be seen or heard from again? This is, after all, a show where getting killed doesn't necessarily mean the end.
"Maybe," says Hewitt coyly. "For a short period of time."
After a season of conversing with ghosts and then finishing "Garfield," in which the titular cat was added later with computer graphics, Hewitt is used to talking to thin air on camera.
"We always do what we call an 'MOG' shot, 'Mit Out Ghost,'" she says with a laugh because "mit" is German for "with." "They always let me do it first with them standing there so that I know what they are doing, what they're looking like. Then they take them away and have me stand there and do the same thing with the close ups or the over-the-shoulders.
"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," she continues. "It was weird to get used to the first time. 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? Why is she standing there talking to herself?'"
While all the supernatural stuff doesn't disturb her, the demands of leading a one-hour drama can get pretty taxing, a situation shared by other actors in the same boat.
"I'll see people who are the lead on a one-hour drama ... like Jennifer [Finnigan] from 'Close to Home' she'll come up and go, 'Oh my God. Are you okay?'" recalls Hewitt. "And I'm like, 'Are you sleeping?' and she goes, 'No, not really.' It's this small group of people who are absolutely just wrecked, the most unhealthy people ever but psyched to be there."
Not only does Hewitt have to learn lines for more scenes than any actor on her show, but she also has to be the set cheerleader to "keep the energy level up." So it's no wonder that this summer, she decided to relax and not take a summer job during her hiatus.
"Other than doing a few publicity things here and there, I've really done nothing," she says. "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."
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