JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT A,90s Queen's New Era

THE 9-1-1 STAR AND FORMER TEEN IDOL TOOK HER GRIEF AND CHANNELED IT INTO A NEW BOOK AND A HOLIDAY MOVIE

-  BRIANNE TRACY

History is repeating itself for Jennifer Love Hewitt. On Nov. 11 the actress's daughter Autumn earned her SAG card at age 10, just like Hewitt did 35 years ago. "I had this flash of my mom handing me my card at 10 years old," Hewitt says over Zoom the next day. "I was dying, it was so cool."

Even cooler: Autumn earned the card by acting alongside her mom on 9-1-1, the TV drama on which the Party of Five alum has played 9-1-1 dispatcher Maddie Han since 2018, and in The Holiday Junkie, her mom's new Lifetime Christmas movie also starring her dad, Brian Hallisay, 46, and two brothers Atticus, 9, and Aidan, 3.

The movie, premiering Dec. 14, was inspired by Hewitt's love for the holidays. During her interview the actress even decorated a mini Christmas tree as a surprise for her kids. "It's go time," she says with a laugh, a pastel bauble in hand. "Me and Santa and the elves are all on the same schedule." Hewitt declared herself a "holiday junkie" in 2013 when she started leaning into the joy of the season to cope with the grief of losing her mom, Pat, who died of cancer at 67 in 2012.

Along with her new film, Hewitt channeled her personal journey into her book Inheriting Magic: My Journey Through Grief, Joy, Celebration, and Making Every Day Magical, which also offers tips for making the every day feel special (see excerpt). "It's wild that they're coming out the same week," she says. "I feel like it's my mother up in the sky going, 'Okay, let's make this work, guys.' It's a very 'her' thing to do."

Hewitt's mom has been a guiding force for as long as the actress can remember. After Hewitt's star quality attracted attention in their native Texas, Pat-who divorced Hewitt's dad, Herbert, when their daughter was 6 months old-moved the 10-year-old to Los Angeles. "I don't think she would've chosen this for me, but she got out of my way and let me follow my dreams," Hewitt says.