Jennifer Love Hewitt addressed rumors of her return to the I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot, before confirming she would officially be reprising her role.
The actress stopped by the I’ve Never Said This Before With Tommy DiDario podcast for its episode dropping on Tuesday. While speaking with the host, she seemingly gave a hint about potentially reprising her role of Julie James for the upcoming sequel, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.
“I am possibly preparing for that,” Hewitt confessed in a clip from the episode exclusively obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “I am so close to being able to say something that’s exciting.”
Hewitt later went into greater detail about the idea of possibly returning to the franchise, which shot her to fame as a teen star after starring in the original 1997 film. “It has only been scheduling and me trying to make sure that if I go back to the franchise, I just don’t want to be the ghost of ’90s past,” Hewitt said. “I really want to do something, and I want to be there for Julie James fans. … I just want it to feel like, you know, if she comes back then it means something.”
She noted that Julie is written into the reboot script, signaling that it’s only a matter of whether she will be the one portraying the character.
On Friday, Hewitt officially confirmed she would be returning for the reboot on Instagram where her posted a photo looking into a mirror with papers reading “I know what you did last summer” taped to the glass. “It’s never too late to go back. Julie James is returning. I know what you will be doing next summer,” she wrote in the caption.
Hewitt noted in the podcast clip that she was incredibly honored to still be considered for the role, even 27 years after the original film premiered. She portrayed Julie in the film, alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe. She also reprised her role in the 1998 sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. THR previously reported that she was in talks to return to her role once again for the reboot.
The 1997 slasher film centered on a group of young adults who accidentally murder somebody, then cover it up and form a pact to never tell anyone about it. A year later, the group is then stalked by somebody who is murdering them for what they did.
DiDario later brought up the idea of making a new song to accompany the upcoming film, however, Hewitt already had a suggestion. “I’m working on that too, we’ll see,” she said.
Prinze, who also reprised his role in the 1998 sequel, is set to return for the upcoming reboot. Gellar previously said she would be part of the new sequel in an “unofficial” capacity. DiDario also asked Hewitt if there were any talks of Brandy Norwood, the acclaimed singer and actress who joined the cast for the 1998 sequel, returning as well.
“I have heard that. Yes, I have,” Hewitt responded before joking that she had to go back and rewatch the movies to remember who actually died. “My first thought was, ‘We have to have Jack Black,’ and then I was like, ‘Oh no, he died,’” Hewitt added. Black appeared in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, but his character gets stabbed through the chest with a gardening tool by the killer.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Hewitt addressed past rumors that she and Gellar had an on-set feud during filming for the 1997 movie, which claimed that Hewitt was changing the script so Gellar’s character was definitively killed off.
“I was 18. They were not taking script notes from me,” the actress explained. “All of us were in that experience together, you know, figuring it all out and everything. And I root for her and Freddie. I think it’s the cutest thing in the world that they’ve been married for 100 years and have kids. It’s like adorable. So it’s just been really funny to see all of this stuff.”
The I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot is currently set for a summer 2025 release.
