Jennifer Love Hewitt Gets Things Off Her Chest

The 'Ghost Whisperer' Star Says She's More Than Just Cleavage and Reveals What Scares Her

Oct. 29 -- TV's Melinda Gordon is one lucky lady. She she's got a killer wardrobe, a hunky husband and she runs her own antique business with her best pal Delia. On the downside, she's haunted day and night by increasingly frightening ghosts.

To get in the Halloween spirit, AOL TV's Angel Cohn spoke with 'Whisperer's' spooktacular star Jennifer Love Hewitt to find out why her wardrobe department suddenly discovered some more material and uncover what scares a woman who surrounds herself with dead people all day.

I understand you are in hair and makeup as we speak. How long does it take to get Melinda's amazingly shiny and perfect hair?
It takes about and hour. Melinda is all about the hair. She's definitely a glamorous ghost whisperer.

Do any of the episodes spook you?
Our Halloween episode involves me being in some very claustrophobic places and I'm a tad claustrophobic so that was not fun for me. It is a much creepier season so far. I still think the show is holding on to the things people like about it, the mushy stuff and the crossing over and going into the light, but they've amped up the intensity of where Melinda finds herself.

The episode about summoning the vicious Bloody Mary by saying her name in a mirror three times gave me goosebumps.
I know! I grew up with the legend of Bloody Mary, so we had to do the shots in a certain way so that I wasn't actually looking in the mirror when I had to say (her name) because I was too afraid. Even though there was a crew around, it was still dark and I'm standing in front of a mirror saying her name three times. Sometimes I believe too much in that stuff.

Do you find yourself looking over your shoulder when you are alone at night?
Oh yeah. I definitely get freaked out. If we've done stuff creepy that night at work and I don't get home until 3 in the morning and I have to walk up the driveway to my house I definitely am looking around. I usually get to my front door and laugh hysterically that I've probably spent way too long at work and need to calm down.

Is it just me, or is her wardrobe a little more um, subdued this season?
No, it's a fact. We've had a change in designers this year. Everybody brings something different to her. Meeting with the producers (we felt) that the cleavage was starting to get too much attention. When we initially did it in the first season, it wasn't because we wanted people to talk about that, it was because we honestly believed the she was [just dressing like] a newlywed, so whatever. So many [women on] shows now are cops or are always in business suits, so we thought it would be nice to show on network television the Sarah Jessica Parker way of things with this glamorous girl who likes to play with her clothes and can have fun with fashion.

Makes sense.
Somewhere along the way, as cute as it was, people started to concentrate more on that than what Melinda was actually doing on the show. That for us became a very scary thing because the show is not about that. This season we consciously decided to take some of that away. We'll still give the audience a little something. We'll still do the nightgown things for people who need that ... for the 14-year-old boys out there in America. But we really wanted people this season to pay attention to what she's saying and what she's doing. I think we've accomplished that and that makes me happy. I work really hard and to only have people talk about cleavage is not exactly a compliment.

What other interesting new things can we expect this season?
This season in general, but (especially) in our Halloween episode, you find out that Jim and Melinda may not have chosen Grandview, but Grandview may have chosen them. Grandview is not this sweet little innocent town full of antique stores and coffee shops that it appears to be. It has a very dark past. A lot has gone on there centuries before Jim and Melinda were even thoughts in the world. There are people you don't know about who are watching every move Melinda makes and definitely don't like what she has to offer. I'm not sure what it all means at the end of the day, but it is a storyline that haunts Melinda, no pun intended, for the rest of the season.

As if she doesn't have enough going on in her life.
I know, right? I just feel like she needs a good night's sleep. I feel like a big episode for 'Ghost Whisperer' would be for her to eat her entire dinner, make it through an entire movie and actually sleep one night.



The other big mysteries this season seem to be about her dad. Is he dead or alive? And who exactly is her brother? Will we find out soon?
Absolutely. You will find out very shortly if Gabriel is my brother or not, and what that is going to mean. You will also find out this season if my dad is alive or not and what that means for Melinda and the pain that brings up in her.

I like that you get answers on this show.
But they aren't giving them so quickly this year. Normally the cliffhangers are in the finale or the premiere. This year, every episode ends with another piece to the puzzle. It is frustrating to me because I don't really know what is happening. I think the audience will constantly have to be paying attention (because) there's a lot happening.

Melinda's helped so many people in Grandview, is it possible that someone could spill her secret?
It is interesting that you should say that. (Around episode 12 or 13) that will come up. I can't really tell you how or why or what's going to happen with it necessarily. It is a very quick moment in time but there will be a mention of eventually people will find out possibly what she does and what that will mean for her life and her existence in Grandview.

Melinda's husband Jim is always mentioning he wants a kid. Do you think that she could be a ghost whisperer and have a baby?
I do! I'm on the writer's about that. I really want Jim and Melinda to have a kid. I don't know if we'd do it in the conventional way. I don't know if we'd see Melinda get pregnant and go into labor and do all those things. I think a kid would come to her in a different way. In her life nothing happens like it is supposed to, but I would definitely like to see them have a kid.

Do you have anything else you are working on?
I'm looking at stuff for hiatus, but right now this (show) takes up all my time. Everyone is waiting to see what is going to happen with this (writers') strike and we're not really sure what's going to happen with that.

What is your favorite scary horror movie?
'The Shining' and 'The Omen.' Creepy, creepy movies.

Do you still get dressed up for Halloween?
I do! We have a Halloween parade here at 'Ghost Whisperer' and all the crew members' kids come down in costumes and we parade them around the town square and we have a DJ and food and a little party because we are always working on Halloween. I have no idea what I'm going to be this year, but I do get dressed up.

Go to our Julian McMahon Interview >>