I Know What You Did Last Summer star Jennifer Love Hewitt has played slasher movie final girl Julie James at a wide variety of ages. Though she has a number of notable movies under her belt, she is probably best known for her roles on the small screen, having starred in Party of Five, Ghost Whisperer, and 9-1-1.
Hewitt originated the role of Julie James in the 1997 slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was written by Scream‘s Kevin Williamson, adapting the 1973 Lois Duncan novel. The movie, which was directed by Jim Gillespie, became a major hit, grossing $125.3 million against a reported budget of $17 million and spawning a major horror franchise.
Hewitt then reprised the role of Julie James in the 1998 sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. However, she did not appear in the franchise’s 2006 direct-to-video sequel I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer or the Prime Video reboot series I Know What You Did Last Summer, which ran for one season in 2021.
Although she sat out those installments, Hewitt returned to the role of Julie James after more than 25 years in the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel, which debuted in theaters on July 18, 2025. The movie was directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) from a screenplay she co-wrote with Sam Lansky (I Wish You All the Best).
Jennifer Love Hewitt Is 18 Years Old In I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
She Was Born In 1979
Jennifer Love Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas on February 21, 1979, which means that she was 18 years old when 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer debuted on October 17. Principal pH๏τography took place between late March 1997 and June 1997, so she was 18 the entire time that she was making and promoting the movie.
I Know What You Did Last Summer follows a group of teenagers who are being targeted by a killer a year after being involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident that they have tried to keep under wraps.
This means that Jennifer Love Hewitt was the only main cast member who was actually a teenager while filming the entire movie. Sarah Michelle Gellar (born April 14, 1977) would have turned 20 during production, Ryan Phillippe (born September 10, 1974) was 22 at the time, and Freddie Prinze Jr. (March 8, 1976) turned 21 shortly before production kicked off.
Jennifer Love Hewitt Is 19 Years Old In I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
The Sequel Came Out Just One Year Later
The success of the original movie saw a sequel rushed into production more or less immediately. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was sH๏τ between April and July 1998 before premiering on November 13 of that year (just 13 months after the previous installment). This timeline means that Jennifer Love Hewitt was 19 years old throughout principal pH๏τography.
Brandy Norwood… was only born 10 days before Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Although the core cast of young characters that surrounded Julie James this time around was primarily played by new stars (other than Freddie Prinze Jr., who reprised his role as Ray Bronson), Hewitt remained the youngest member of the group.
While Brandy Norwood (born February 11, 1979) was only born 10 days before Jennifer Love Hewitt, making her also 19 years old, their co-stars Mekhi Pfifer (December 29, 1974) and Matthew Settle (September 17, 1969) were 23 and 28 respectively during the time that they were filming I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
Jennifer Love Hewitt Is 46 Years Old In I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
Julie James Returns After More Than Two Decades
At the time when 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (which also features the return of Freddie Prinze Jr. as Julie’s love interest Ray Bronson) debuted, Jennifer Love Hewitt was 46 years old.
While principal pH๏τography for the movie kicked off in New South Wales, Australia, in October 2024, additional pH๏τography took place in L.A. between February and March 2025. An Instagram post from director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson implied that Hewitt’s scenes were filmed in that latter period, during which Hewitt had her 46th birthday.
How Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Age Compares To Julie James’ In Each Movie
Julie’s Exact Age Is Unknown
Although the I Know What You Did Last Summer movies generally do not take place in specific years, various modern touches, as well as other clues about the timeline of the franchise, hint that they take place during the year in which they each premiered.
This would mean that the prologue of the first movie takes place in 1996, the rest is set in 1997, the sequel is set in 1998, and the new movie takes place in 2025, with its own prologue taking place in 2024.
2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer follows a new set of teenagers involved in a revenge murder spree, boasting a new ensemble cast that includes Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, and Sarah Pidgeon.
Because Julie had just graduated from high school in 1996 and was visiting home after her freshman year of college in summer 1997, she is probably between 18 and 19 years old in the first I Know What You Did Last Summer. This would make her 19 or 20 in I Still Know and 46 or 47 in the new movie.
Therefore, Julie James has consistently remained more or less the exact same age as Jennifer Love Hewitt over the course of the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise, though the character could ultimately be up to a year older than the actor in every scene outside of the prologue of the original 1997 movie.
Source(s): Jennifer Kaytin Robinson/Instagram
