Jennifer Love Hewitt Teases the Jaw-Dropping Ending of the New ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer'

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6 days ago

The wait for Jennifer Love Hewitt's return to the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise is finally over.
This Friday, for the first time in nearly three decades, Hewitt reprises her final-girl role of Julie James in Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). The legacy sequel reintroduces Julie as a psychology professor, one who fittingly specializes in trauma. Now single, Julie is living a happily quiet life after narrowly surviving two rounds of attacks by murderous fisherman, Ben Willis (Muse Watson), in the late '90s.
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However, Julie's past soon catches up to her when Ava Brucks (Chase Sui Wonders) pays her a visit and requests her help in dealing with an all-too-familiar problem. A vengeful Fisherman copycat is now targeting Ava and her friend group of 20-somethings in Julie's hometown of Southport, North Carolina.
For Hewitt, the decision to return to her most famous role was anything but automatic.
'I was hesitant at first. I wanted to make sure that she fit into the movie in the right way and that there was a reason for her to come back besides just the '90s nostalgia moment,' Hewitt tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of the film's July 18 theatrical release. 'I wanted her part in the movie to matter and for the audience to feel like they were proud of who she has become.'
Once her return was finalized, Hewitt sat down to revisit Jim Gillespie's I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Danny Cannon's I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). But these latest go-rounds were particularly special since she got to share her teenage self's work with her kids for the first time. In doing so, she also recognized some elements from the first two films that paved the way for the jaw-dropping ending of Robinson's new installment. (Don't worry, this is a spoiler-free zone.)
'I will say that in thinking about it and watching the other movies before filming this new one, [the ending] makes sense,' Hewitt carefully teases.
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Hewitt also looks back on her character's iconic line of, 'What are you waiting for, huh!?' and how the indelible moment may have been conceived by a young kid who'd won a contest to visit the I Know What You Did Last Summer set in 1997.
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To go back to the very beginning, was it just a coincidence thatbecame the casting office for -written slasher movies? [Writer's Note: For the uninitiated, the Wiliamson-penned drafted Hewitt's co-star Neve Campbell from the same hit series.]
Isn't that hilarious? Yeah, it was just a coincidence.
What's the history with you and a third movie? Have there been other attempts to get you back as Julie James over the years?
No, this is the first one! I was shocked and elated all at the same time.
Hollywood loves the rule of three, so it was always surprising to me that they didn't conclude the first two films with a proper trilogy capper.
I know, I was surprised, too. But after a certain span of years went by, I was like, 'Oh well. I guess it's just not going to happen.' But now it did.
When writer-director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson pitched you, were you immediately on board? Or did you need to mull it over?
I was hesitant at first. If I was coming back as Julie, I just wanted to make sure that we were bringing back the best and right version of her. I wanted to make sure that she fit into the movie in the right way and that there was a reason for her to come back besides just the '90s nostalgia moment. I wanted her part in the movie to matter and for the audience to feel like they were proud of who she has become.
Julie is now a psychology professor, and I suppose one could say she's lonely by choice. Is this the life you expected for her? Or did you think she'd have three kids and a golden retriever by now?
(Laughs.) No, she's exactly who I thought she would be and who I wanted her to be, honestly. As weird as it sounds, it was really important for me to not see a Julie James that had healed her trauma. She needed to stay in trauma, and she would've stayed in trauma, so this version of her feels right.
During her reintroduction, is she wearing a Cure T-shirt underneath her jacket?
Yes, I really liked the idea of her being a professor in a vintage T-shirt, and Jenn [Kaytin Robinson] is the one who chose The Cure. I'm also a massive Cure fan, so I was really psyched about that. It was just us wanting to be nostalgic by also having her hold on to some nostalgia. Originally, she was going to be in a shirt and tie when you first saw her, and then she would wear the vintage T-shirt later. But Jenn was like, 'No, we've got to go with the vintage T-shirt right off the top.' And I just loved that.
You haven't played Julie in 27 years. How quickly did you find her again?
Well, what's beautiful about this movie is that she feels like the same person from the original movie, but she also feels like a new character in some ways because of all the time that's gone by. But I did rewatch [I Know What You Did Last Summer]. It was my kids' first horror movie. They really wanted to watch it together, and so I watched it with them, which was a total trip. So it was really fun and exciting and interesting to go back and watch that girl on the road that night.
When you watched it, could you focus on performance and story? Or were you more consumed by your behind-the-scenes memories?
I think it was a mixture, but I did learn a lot about Julie that I didn't notice at the time. One big thing in particular that we tried to bring back into the new movie is that I never realized how silenced she was on the road that night. If you had asked me at 18 or even at 20, I would've said, 'Yeah, we were all in it together,' but that really isn't the case. After the accident happened that night, everyone basically looked at her and said, 'Shut the fuck up.' That's what they said, and she really was struck by that. And in that silence, her detective brain kept going, and she wanted to solve this.
She didn't just lose her innocence that night; she lost everything. She lost her friends. She lost the respect that she had for the person [Freddie Prinze Jr.'s Ray] who was the love of her life in that moment. She also lost herself, and she lost the ability to ever live life trauma-free again. So I honestly don't think that I realized any of that when I watched the movie as a young person. Watching it now at this age after having children, I went, 'Oh, wow. These are some really interesting things that we can pull from in this new movie.'
Do you still feel connected to that 18-year-old version of you?
Yeah, I do. Very much so. It's interesting that you ask that. I've definitely had a loss of innocence and trauma in my life. Some of my friends don't [feel this way], but I still feel uniquely connected to my youth and who I was then. I carry her with me, and that's an important thing to do as you get older. When you lose that, you lose something very drastic. So I still feel very connected to that part of my life, for sure.
When you reunited with Freddie Prinze Jr. on the set of (2025), did it feel like old times?
Honestly, it was an out-of-body experience that I didn't totally process until after we were done with the first scene. That's when I was like, 'Oh my God, that's Freddie, and we just did that scene.' I was just so in my head about making sure that Julie and Ray felt like Julie and Ray, but also a totally new Julie and Ray.
I didn't get a normal high school experience in my life, but [reuniting with Freddie] was what I imagine a high-school-reunion feeling to be. You know a person, and while so much time has passed to where it's different, we still fit in with each other. We immediately felt like Julie and Ray, but obviously new versions of them.
Did you ever feel like you had to take the new cast aside and offer them some pearls of wisdom?
No, but I was really touched by how much they celebrated and honored both the movie and us coming back. So I was just really excited to be there and be a part of it. But I have definitely taken a mom role to Chase [Sui Wonders]. (Laughs.) Off camera, I'm constantly checking in on her and making sure that she's eating and drinking and taking care of herself. I just felt very close to her in such a special way, and that was really sweet.
Generally speaking, the ending of (2025) is quite shocking. It's a big swing.
Yeah.
When you read it, did your jaw hit the floor?
It did. But I will say that in thinking about it and watching the other movies before filming this new one, it makes sense. [Writer's Note: I then asked Hewitt if she was referring to a specific scene from an earlier movie, and she confirmed that I was on the right track.]
You incurred some fishing hook-related damage while making the first two movies. Were you able to come out of this one unscathed?
I was! The only thing is that my feet were sore from standing in very tall shoes. I am now in my 40s, and I choose not to torture my feet in high heels most of the time. But other than that, no. All was well.
As previewed in the trailer, Julie's famous line of, 'What are you waiting for, huh?' was bound to be incorporated somehow, and I liked that it had utility. It wasn't an empty reference.
Right.
Were you very particular about its usage in this?
Not in its usage, but it had to be said again, and it had to be said in a fresh way. And I think we accomplished that. The meaning behind this one is very different, and I love where it is [in the movie]. That line has just become such a special part of my life; I hear it all the time. Even my kids say it to me, especially my 3-year-old, which is hilarious. He's in his, 'What are you waiting for?' phase, and it's really funny. So it holds a special place in my heart.
The 'huh' really makes that line what it is. You put this extra emphasis on it, and it really showed Julie's fighting spirit in the first movie.
Thank you. A lot of people leave out the 'huh' when they say it back to me, and so I appreciate that. Yeah, for me, the 'huh' was her gumption. The 'huh' was her challenge: 'Come at me! Bring what you're going to bring. I'm here, I'm ready, let's go.' So the 'huh' is important.
There's an internet legend that the entire moment was conceived by a contest-winning child. Is that true?
So here's the thing about that. I was 18 years old when we filmed the first movie, and all I know is that there was a kid visiting the movie that day. He was a horror fan, but I don't know who he was. I was 18, I'm now 46, and Lord knows I've had three children, so I don't remember everything perfectly. But I know that he was there that day, and I thought that he was a part of that moment, somehow, because we were all at a monitor.
Originally, in the script, I wasn't spinning around and yelling, 'What are you waiting for?' It was a different kind of moment, and it suddenly became that moment. I've heard different versions of it, but I do remember a kid being there and him being a horror movie fan. So he was a part of that conversation, somehow. Was it his designed moment? I don't know. But I somehow ended up spinning around in the street that day, screaming that line that became very iconic. So whoever created it, I'm very grateful.
'And that kid's name was Damien Chazelle.'
(Laughs.) Could you imagine?
According to another internet legend, Jamie Lee Curtis was filming a different movie near your set in North Carolina, and so she would often come by to lend you emotional support. Is there any truth to that?
No! But I've known Jamie since I was 14. She is a very supportive, amazing person, but I did not see her during [filming]. That would've been awesome. I love her.
Have these movies altered your behavior at all? Do you avoid late night drives, tanning beds and fishing boats?
(Laughs.) When we were filming the first movie, I was already terrified of horror movies, and I was very aware of the fact that I was actually filming in a real fishing village in Southport, North Carolina. I was like, 'There's fishermen everywhere, and I've been running from one all day. And now I'm supposed to go home and go to sleep? How is that going to work out?' But since this movie has come back into my life, I'm a tad bit more paranoid. I left that behind for a while, and now I'm definitely like, 'What was that!?' (Laughs.) I'm a little jumpier now that the movie is back in my life.
Most of the new movie was shot in Australia for the necessity of summer weather, and I loved how Jennifer Kaytin Robinson used the unrecognizable locations to the movie's advantage. Southport's gentrification by an uber-rich land developer is a huge part of the story.
Yeah, it's brilliant. If I could say anything to the audience, everything that you want this movie to be, it is. And everything new and fresh is so worth it and so awesome. It's a perfect way to come back in all facets.
Sony is putting the new movie out just like they did the first two. They also have the rights to your beloved teen rom-com, (1998). Can you try to get that property back on its feet soon?
I've been asking! I've asked a few times now. Yes, I would love that.
***I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) opens July 18 in movie theaters nationwide.
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