Jennifer Love Hewitt felt 'hesitant' towards I Know What You Did Last Summer

Jennifer Love Hewitt was initially "hesitant" to commit to I Know What You Did Last Summer.

The 46-year-old actress has reprised the role of Julie James for the long-awaited sequel, but Jennifer admits that she was initially sceptical about the project.

The film star - who played Julie in 1997's I Know What You Did Last Summer and 1998's I Still Know What You Did Last Summer - told The Hollywood Reporter: "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.

"I wanted her part in the movie to matter and for the audience to feel like they were proud of who she has become."

Jennifer thinks the evolved version of her character "feels right".

The actress explained: "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."

Despite this, Jennifer actually felt like she was playing a "new character" in the new movie.

She reflected: "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."

Jennifer also likened working with Freddie Prinze Jr on the new movie to a "high-school-reunion".

Asked about reuniting with the 49-year-old actor, Jennifer shared: "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."