Jennifer Love Hewitt says interviewers asked 'gross things' about her body when she was a teenager

• Jennifer Love Hewitt said that interviewers used to ask "gross things" about her body in the past.
• Hewitt said she was "disappointed" it was all about her body instead of her acting performance.
• "I laughed it off a lot of the time, and I wish maybe I hadn't," she told Vulture.

Jennifer Love Hewitt said in a recent Q&A that she was asked "gross things" by interviewers when she was a teenager.

According to Hewitt, she recently watched the documentary "Framing Britney Spears" (which focuses on the media's treatment of the "Toxic" singer), and told Vulture that she experienced a similar level of scrutiny.

"At the time that I was going through it, and interviewers were asking what now would be incredibly inappropriate, gross things, it didn't feel that way," she said. "For some reason, in my brain, I was able to just go, 'Okay, well, I guess they wouldn't be asking if it was inappropriate.'"

The actress, who got her big-screen break at age 18 in the horror film "I Know What You Did Last Summer," said that her revealing wardrobe in the 1997 slasher might have led to the awkward questions.

"It really started with 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' because that was the first time that I had worn a low top," Hewitt explained.

Hewitt said that during the press junkets for "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and its sequel, "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer," she even wore a shirt that said "Silicone Free," since she "knew something about boobs was gonna be the first question" reporters asked.

"I was really tired of that conversation," the actress told Vulture. According to Hewitt, she dealt with similarly invasive questions during pressers for her 2001 film "Heartbreakers," which also starred Sigourney Weaver.

"I was disappointed that it was all about body stuff, because I had really worked hard in that movie to do a good job as an actress," Hewitt said. "So I remember one specific moment wishing that the acting had overshadowed all that - that for five minutes, they had said I was really great in the movie versus made a body comment."

The "Criminal Minds" star said she views her treatment in the media differently now.

"Now that I'm older, I think, 'Gosh, I wish that I had known how inappropriate that was so I could have defended myself somehow or just not answered those questions,'" Hewitt said. "I laughed it off a lot of the time, and I wish maybe I hadn't."

But the star said she was "grateful" that the conversations around women in film - as well as sexism in the media - is changing, in part because of the Spears documentary.

"When I watched that Britney Spears documentary, it hurt my heart a little bit, because I remember in hindsight having that feeling," Hewitt told Vulture. "I'm really grateful that we're in a time where, hopefully, that narrative is going to change for young girls who are coming up now, and they won't have to have those conversations."

This isn't the first time Hewitt has spoken out about her treatment in Hollywood.

In a 2018 interview with Elle, the actress said she'd been considered a "sex symbol" since she was 18, and frequently had to explain to journalists that she hadn't gotten breast implants.

"Before I ever knew in my life what 'sexy' was, I was on the sexy list," Hewitt said at the time.