Jennifer Love Hewitt on the Legacy of Julie James and ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ [July Cover Story]
On this day, back in 1997, Julie James, Helen Shivers, Barry Cox, and Ray Bronson huddled around a beach bonfire in Southport, North Carolina, swapping urban legends and imagining their futures, some of which would not come to pass.
“—That’s not how it goes,” Barry slurs, interrupting a self-serious Ray, already drunk. “They run out of gas, the guy goes for help, and the girl hears scratching on the roof…”
Gleefully, Helen corrects him next: “It’s not scratching … it’s a drip. Drip. Drip. He’s been decapitated, and the blood drips onto the roof.”
“No,” says Julie James—soft-spoken, haunted, and, as always, delivering the final word. “He wasn’t decapitated. He was gutted. With a hook.”
Now, nearly 27 years since that fateful night around the bonfire, I’m sitting across from the woman who made those words iconic.
Jennifer Love Hewitt—Dread Central’s July Digital Cover Star—is here to help me unpack a different kind of legend: the enduring legacy of Julie James, and why I Know What You Did Last Summer still cuts so deep.
“Seeing how it landed with people, my life changed after that opening weekend,” Hewitt tells me, reflecting on how quickly she felt the cultural impact of that first film. “But it wasn’t until some time went by that I realized—oh, people are watching this every year! Either on the fourth of July or on Halloween, or sometimes both. And Julie James, she’s a real thing.”
She laughs, telling me about how fans are still shouting her character’s most quotable line at her. “I would go places, and people would scream, ‘What are you waiting for?’ and I was like, oh wow. This actually did some things.”
Still, Julie James has always been something of a genre underdog, unfairly spending some of her earlier years in the tall, crooked shadows of contemporaries like Laurie Strode and Sidney Prescott. This was, in part, because those two mainstream Final Girls were given early—if somewhat uneven—shots at their own legacy revivals. But now that’s all changed, and it’s time for Julie James to get her flowers.
“I think Julie is so special in that she’s just a normal girl,” Hewitt tells me. “Her life as she knew it changed, and she carried that. What I love about her in this new movie is she’s still very much just a real woman who has carried all this with her… I love that she’s real and authentic in a world that still has all of the fun elements that horror movies can have.”
For the actor herself, the appeal of Julie James lies in the legacy of the character’s strength and relatability. “I’m really happy that there were girls who loved her and felt like they were similar to her in ways. I’m excited for them to be new moms now, taking their daughters to this new movie, and hopefully, those young girls will feel the same way about themselves and Julie James.”
From the original cast to this summer’s new blood, Hewitt knows better than most that the IKWYDLS franchise has always been centered on complex women.
“In this movie, all of the women are really funny, really tough, and have a lot of gumption and moxie and fight in them. They don’t go down easily. They don’t put up with much, which I love,” she said. “What I think is so extraordinary about the horror world, in general, is that it was the one place, very early on, that was willing to showcase strong women. It took television a long time to get there. It took other film genres a really long time… but in horror, it was just always that way.”
This is a woman who knows what she’s talking about. The actor has had starring roles in an unprecedented number of successful major network television shows like Ghost Whisperer, Party of Five, The Client List, Criminal Minds, and 9-1-1, which she has starred in since 2018.
Still, Hewitt makes note of just how rare the opportunity of playing Julie James could be. “I was only 18 when we made the first movie,” she adds. “Honestly, I wouldn’t get to play [a role like that] for a very long time in television.”
Due to her tenures on projects like Can’t Hardly Wait and Sister Act II: Back in the Habit, and her detour as a legitimate turn-of-the-millennium pop star, Hewitt has accidentally courted the adoration of legions of queer fans from the very start of her career. And it’s this group who have been arguably the loudest in championing I Know What You Did Last Summer over the years—and Hewitt has clear eyes about this.
“I love it,” she tells me, her face lighting up at the mention of her queer fanbase. “It means everything to me. I really feel like they are the reason why Julie James has achieved iconic status in this world. And I’m so deeply grateful.”
And it’s with this new I Know What You Did Last Summer film that queer horror fans will finally see themselves represented on screen in some fairly iconic moments, including through a number of the new leads. At a time when horror has felt like it’s been retreating into the closet, it’s a relief to see the filmmakers spotlight it so unapologetically.
The 2025 new installment is helmed by Do Revenge director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and according to Hewitt, she brought a totally different—and very welcome—energy to the series.
“She’s this tiny little force of nature… she’s editing in her head, she’s writing lines on the fly, she’s directing the movie,” Hewitt recalls. “She’s a fan who’s going, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so cool. Julie and Ray are back! This is amazing.’”
“She came at this saying, ‘My first and foremost goal is to make sure that the fans of the original feel seen, heard, and know that we love them.’ And I don’t think you can ask for anything better from a director for this.”
Speaking as someone who’s seen the film, I can’t help but agree with Hewitt about Robinson’s clear respect for the franchise’s fanbase. And the director’s love for tonal balance was a huge influence on its outcome.
“This movie really is funny and camp and finds these odd moments of levity and joy and darkness… she fought for that,” Hewitt explains. “You find yourself laughing and then somebody dies and then you’re like, ‘Oh, I was laughing and now I’m scared.’ It takes you on that rollercoaster.”
There’s no arguing that Robinson’s visually striking style and modern sensibilities are on full display with her third feature film. The level of self-awareness is appropriate, and the inclusion of a particular secondary character’s obsession with murder makes Southport the perfect vacation spot for true crime enthusiasts. Besides, it’s impossible to craft a self-aware slasher film in 2025 without somehow reflecting on the nuanced and complicated industry of true crime media.
Now executive producing a new true crime series herself, Hewitt says she finds real-world horrors just as fascinating as fictional ones. “I’m interested in the minds of these people. I’m interested in the stories. I’m interested in all of the twists and turns,” she says. “Women carry a lot in the world… and we are counted out a lot.”
Hewitt serves as both narrator and executive producer on the new ID series A Killer Among Friends. In its trailer, Hewitt’s voice is striking as she explains:
“Six friend groups. Six terrifying stories of murder and betrayal. Sure, you can trust your friends. But I wouldn’t.”
The season premiere episode will reveal the true story behind the murder of university football star Trent DiGiuro, who was killed celebrating his 21st birthday back in 1994. The new series looks to be inspired, in part, by the iconic formatting of IKWYDLS—a franchise that will certainly never die, and therefore keep Hewitt immortal for as long as genre fans exist.
When asked how she feels about entering this world again, with the new film in theaters on July 18, Hewitt shows no fear. And, of course, gets the final word, this time to the fans of the series:
“Full tilt, excited, ready for this movie, ready for her to come back, ready for the franchise! Thank you guys so much for celebrating Julie and the movie and everything. I really appreciate it.”
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