Jennifer Love Hewitt Felt Like She Was Getting Punk’d When Offered ‘Criminal Minds’

Criminal Minds once recruited actor Jennifer Love Hewitt to play a type of character she wasn’t used to playing. But it was a role she couldn’t have been any less prepared for.

How Jennifer Love Hewitt reacted when she was offered ‘Criminal Minds’

Hewitt made her debut on Criminal Minds during the show’s 10 ^th season as Kate Callahan. Callahan was a no-nonsense FBI agent who joined the show’s Behavioral Analysis Unit [BAU] to help the team’s hunt for dangerous criminals. When she got the news she landed the role, however, she admitted to feeling like she was “Punk’d.”

“When I got the call, I was in my sweatpants,” Hewitt said in a 2014 interview with E News . “With no makeup, making stuffed bell peppers in my kitchen, where I’ve been for a while post-baby.”

Hewitt’s newfound duties as a mother contributed to the brief panic she felt being cast in the show.

“I’m definitely sort of flying by the seat of my pants,” Hewitt said. “You know, you’re a mom and everything form the moment they’re in your arms is flying by the seat of your pants. So you get very good at it very quickly..[Autumn] is being really brave and I’m being brave and we’re just sort of figuring it out.”

Hewitt confided that her familiar relationship with CBS played a part in helping her nab the role.

“They were looking to add a new cast member and obviously I spent some time at CBS before, doing Ghost Whisperer, ” she once told Entertainment Weekly . “Honestly, I had always wondered and been waiting to find the perfect way to get back. My first CBS experience was so awesome. They’re great, and Les [Moonves] has been great to me. I was really excited when they called and asked to take a meeting. I met with [showrunner] Erica [Messer], who I’ve known since I was 14 from Party of Five . I hadn’t seen her in a really long time, so it was great to catch up with her. It all fit and the timing was perfect.”

She didn’t stay on the show long, however. She left after one season to tend to her growing responsibilities as a mother .

How ‘Criminal Minds’ compared to Jennifer Love Hewitt’s previous roles

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Hewitt played many roles throughout her career. In the 90s she was known for starring in features like I Know What You Did Last Summer . She was perhaps most known for her roles in shows like The Ghost Whisperer and The Client List . Criminal Minds , however, was a much different experience than either projects.

“Coming off of [ The Client List ], which was so incredibly different, they couldn’t be more different characters,” she said.

In The Client List , Hewitt played a spa worker who indulges in shady exchanges with her clients for financial gain. This was a strong contrast from the morally sound Callahan in Criminal Minds . In The Ghost Whisperer , Hewitt portrayed the psychic medium Melinda Gordon for five seasons . Like Callahan, Melinda would use her gifts to help psychics in need. But the problems they solved couldn’t have been anymore different.

“Melinda really came up against a lot of super scary people in a totally different way than Kate does. Kate comes up against real life, scary, creepy bad guys,” Hewitt said. “For Melinda, most of the time those people ended up being dead and she was able to find empathy for them. Kate has absolutely no sensitivity for these people just because she believes in the right in people, doing things the right way and not hurting other people. Melinda could understand why these people could do these things and she had to understand in order to get these people to the light.”

Hewitt also gave up a certain amount of power for Criminal Minds that she had on her two previous television shows.

“It’s the first time I’ve been on a show that I’m not producing and didn’t put together. I’m just a cast member. It’s their house and I’m just really honored to be invited in. It’s fun for me,” she added.