Jennifer Love Hewitt is ‘terrified’ to return in the I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER sequel, but she’s ready to have some fun

In recent years, we’ve seen a resurgence of old horror film franchises returning to the big screen with successful sequels decades later. We have to go back to the world of He shoutedas well as the Halloween cinematic tradition. Now we will revisit it I know what you did last summer, with a third film. The sequel was announced a year ago and we recently heard that it will be released next summer, in 2025.

When it comes to returning to the role of Julie James, Jennifer Love Hewitt sat down with ET and verified that the film is “in the works” and revealed that she was “honestly terrified” to play the iconic part once again. That fear, Hewitt explained, is all because “it’s been 26 years.”

The first film was released in 1997 and told the story of a group of teenagers involved in a car accident who ended up being terrorized by someone who knew what they had done. His sequel, I still know what you did last summerit debuted the following year.

Even with the fear, Hewitt said that if the third film goes ahead, she’s ready to bring Julie James back “with 26 years of angst, knowledge, swagger, which I’m turning into one word, and have some fun.” She continued:

“It’s honestly crazy to even think about. If this actually comes to fruition, I don’t even know how I’ll feel other than extremely overwhelmed and grateful, but it’s crazy to think about… It’s nice to know that people are excited about the possibility. I think it would be really fun if they got together.”

As for what he hopes to bring to the character more than two decades later, Hewitt joked:

“I think the biggest thing I’d like to do is maybe tone up my mom’s arms a little. That would be nice. I think there’s power in being older. There’s power in having gone away and having three kids .”

The actress, who shares Autumn, 10, Atticus, 8, and Aidan, 2, with husband Brian Hallisay, added:

“There’s a sense of being able to do anything now. The vulnerability that was Julie James in the first and second ones definitely doesn’t exist in this one. I’m excited to show her grown up.”

The adult version of Julie James, Hewitt joked, “must be going crazy. I don’t know who she’s fighting, but whoever it is won’t stand a chance; between me and a stunt double, we get it,” Hewitt joked. she said. “That’s all I can say.”

Looking back on the original film, Hewitt said that getting the role “was a manifestation for me.”

“I had auditioned for other movies, I was in other things, but I definitely told my mom and my agent, ‘I can’t be the lead in a movie until I’m at least 18 or older because I want to be able to do that.’ . work all hours. I want to be there. I want to do it,” she recalled, before revealing that she was initially tolerated Sarah Michelle Gellarthe role of Helen Shivers.

“I went to the audition for the part of Sarah in the film and thought, ‘This doesn’t feel like me.’ They said, ‘OK, well, what do you want to do?’ I thought, “I want to audition for Julie James. This is what I want to do.’ They said, ‘OK. Well, go out. In 10 minutes you have to come back and audition for Julie James.’ I just knew I was more her. They said I understood, I lost my mind.”

Hewitt described the film’s success as “wild”, before explaining why making the second installment was even better than the first.

“The first one I was terrified. I thought, ‘Am I ruining the whole movie?’ I could not sleep [when] we were making the first movie because I would stay up until midnight with someone chasing me and then they would say, “OK, that’s it.” Go home.’ How do you sleep during this process? But the second one was just fun. It was fun. I have to make it tougher. She had already been through a lot and wasn’t as vulnerable as she was in the first one. It was just silly and fun, and we went to Mexico, and Jack Black was in the cast. It was simply the best.”

Freddie Prinze Jr. he will also return in the film, which will be released in theaters on July 18, 2025.