Jennifer Love Hewitt recalls 'the press knew' about her mother Patricia Mae’s death before her

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jennifer Love Hewitt is recalling the time when the media knew about her mother’s death even before she got wind of the tragic news.

The ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ actress is opening up about her special bond with her late mother, Patricia Mae, in her new book ‘Inheriting Magic’.

In a conversation with her ‘9-1-1’ costar Bryan Safi, Hewitt recently talked about her close relationship with her mother, while discussing the upcoming book and Lifetime movie ‘The Holiday Junkie’. 

The 45-year-old actress’ mother died on June 12, 2012, aged 67, after suffering from cancer complications. Hewitt, who was 34 then, was in Monaco for the 52nd Monte Carlo TV Festival.

Thus, came to know about her mother’s death after the media came to know about the news.

Jennifer Love Hewitt mourns her mother’s death

Talking to Safi, Hewitt shared, “The part that I didn’t put in the book is that actually the press knew that my mom had passed before I did," per The Hollywood Reporter.

Referencing the fact that she was in Monaco then, Hewitt shared, “The flight time with me getting back was so long. It was like a 10-and-a-half-hour flight, so by the time I arrived, everybody knew, and it was such a weird thing for me.”

“But then later on,” Hewitt continued, before musing, “I was like, but everybody’s always known everything about my life kind of before. Even breakups, people have been like, ‘He was cheating on you already.’ Really, people? Like, why didn’t you tell me?”

The heartbroken daughter further revealed that 12 years after her mother’s passing, she is finally ready to share her enchanting memories with her mother, while wishing to continue Patricia’s legacy of infusing warmth in every place she used to grace. 

Referring to her book that is slated to release on December 10, Hewitt shared with The Hollywood Reporter, “I honestly hadn’t ever said that much about my mother after she passed, because I didn’t have the words.”

“I just didn’t know what to say, and this felt like the right time to talk about her and sort of say, ‘This is what she left behind,'” shared the ‘Heartbreakers’ actress.

Jennifer Love Hewitt wishes to continue her mother’s legacy

Elsewhere in her interview with Safi, Hewitt shared that the name of her book is an ode to the legacy of her mother where she would infuse warmth to any place she went and made everyone she met feel special. 

Hewitt added, “I would be on a very successful television show, we would walk into a restaurant and people couldn’t care less about me; that was my mother.”

“They wanted to know who was the woman that I was standing next to because she was light, she was joy. She made friends with everyone, there was no stranger in the world to her whatsoever,” continued ‘The Glost Whisperers’ star. 

She went on to share how her mother would make even a dull day feel extraordinary. “If I had a broken heart or a bad day, she would put up Christmas lights because she believed that that sort of lifted the mood,” Hewitt shared in the conversation that took place at Zibby’s Bookshop in Los Angeles, before adding, “If I had bad cramps, there were lights.”

Along with the book, Hewitt is also releasing the film ‘The Holiday Junkie’, which she directed, executive produced and stars in alongside her husband Brian Hallisay.

The film, set to premiere on December 14, will feature certain scenes translated from the book as well.