Jennifer Love Hewitt's latest Lifetime Christmas movie, The Holiday Junkie, has brought a unique twist to her onscreen love life. With her husband Brian Hallisay playing a key role and their children involved, the story holds a special place. This movie not only honors her mother's memory but also showcases her journey through grief and the power of finding joy during the holiday season.

"In The Holiday Junkie, Love and Grief Converge"

Love on Screen

For her new Lifetime Christmas movie, Jennifer Love Hewitt chose her husband Brian Hallisay to be her onscreen love interest. When she informed their 11-year-old daughter Autumn about the plans, the reaction was both unexpected and hilarious. "The first thing she said was, 'Mommy is he going to be nice to you this time?'", Hewitt recalls. "I was like, 'Yes, sweetie, it’s a Christmas miracle. He’s playing a kind character to me.'" Hallisay has a history of playing the bad guy in Hewitt's TV worlds, from 2012-2013 on The Client List to his current role as Maddie Han's abusive ex-husband in 9-1-1. But in The Holiday Junkie, he plays a different kind of character, much to their daughter's delight. "On The Client List, obviously he wasn’t kind, and then in 9-1-1, for sure, not kind," Hewitt says. "So it was really funny. My daughter was super psyched that daddy was going to be nice to me on screen."

Grief and Healing

The movie, premiering on Dec. 14, is inspired by Hewitt's journey with grief after losing her mom Pat to cancer at 67 in 2012. She declared herself a "holiday junkie" in 2013 as a way to cope with her loss. "It was really fun to be in a movie honoring my mom with Brian because he does such a great job of honoring her in our life, even though he only met her once," Hewitt says. "So it was special having him there. I’m really proud to be one of very few grief Christmas movies out there for people who feel things other than just joy at Christmas." Just like the movie, Hewitt also channeled her grief into her book Inheriting Magic: My Journey Through Grief, Joy, Celebration, and Making Every Day Magical, which offers tips for making the everyday feel special. "If you had asked me when my mom was still on the planet if I could live without her, I would’ve said no," Hewitt says. "So I’m really proud of myself for the way that I handled grief after writing the book."

New Dreams and Projects

As she looks forward to 2025, Hewitt is following new dreams. She's expanding "Holiday Junkie" into a full-blown brand and is eyeing a return in the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot. "I’d love to say that I finally signed on to I Know What You Did Last Summer, but I can’t yet," she says. "It’s been complicated because of my 9-1-1 schedule. I’m going to manifest that." In the meantime, she's taking stock of everything she worked for over the past year. "When I sat down with my vision board for 2024, this is what I wanted," she says. "I wanted all of these things to happen. I’m able to be a mom and able to be this person that people have known me as for a long time, but shifting it into a way that they both come together. So I’m feeling very excited and super grateful."The Holiday Junkie premieres on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.