Jennifer Love Hewitt is the ghost acting whisperer.
The I Know What You Did Last Summer star shared the advice she and her husband Brian Hallisay gave to their 10-year-old daughter Autumn after she started taking an interest in the entertainment industry.
"Our big thing with her is, even though my experience as a kid actor was very positive, I think we've both sort of said, ‘Stay in school, do that,'" Jennifer told E! News in an exclusive interview. "'Grow up. Wait until you're a little bit older. Don't take all of this on quite yet.’"
But that doesn't mean Autumn hasn't gotten any experience in Hollywood. In fact, she got to flex her acting chops on an episode of 9-1-1 alongside her mom and dad back in 2023. And she appears alongside her parents and siblings—sister Atticus, 9, and brother Aiden, 3—in the forthcoming movie The Holiday Junkie, which was directed by Jennifer and premieres on Lifetime Dec. 14.
For the actress, it's about finding a balance between letting Autumn explore her passions and ensuring she gets a normal childhood.
"It's a different business than when I started," Jennifer shared. "It's not quite as simple and easy with social media and all of that stuff now. Our hope for her is that she'll just be a kid."
And Brian echoed his wife's sentiment, emphasizing that the couple—who got married in 2013—"totally agree" when it comes to how to navigate their daughter's ambitions.
"I am a proponent of Autumn going to school and sort of growing up and figuring out who she is before she does all that as a kid," he told E!. "Because if it's something that you want to do, you have to work hard at it and it's not easy."
Still, coming together as a family to film a Christmas movie like The Holiday Junkie was a memory Jennifer will never forget.
"It was great fun," the Ghost Whisperer alum shared. "It was crazy with our three kids. They got to be there for some of it. It was really great. It was special."
Jennifer—who is also gearing up to release her memoir Inheriting Magic on Dec. 10—admitted she even cried when the shoot wrapped.
"I sobbed," she explained. "I surprised everybody and had Santa Claus come to yell wrap. It was Christmas, so of course, we have to, but it was great. I was really proud."
—Reporting by Amanda Champagne-Meadows