After being off screen for about three years, Jennifer Love Hewitt is making her TV comeback.
The 39-year-old actress will join the cast of Fox’s 9-1-1. This season two casting addition will be Hewitt’s first TV role since leaving Criminal Minds in 2015.
“I really love the show. I genuinely love it; it’s just a beautiful show,” Hewitt said. “I love the idea of following the first responders, but I also love really knowing who they are as people and not just sort of seeing the emergency situations.”
Hewitt is set to play Maddie Buckley, a 911 operator who also happens to be firefighter Evan Buckley’s (Oliver Stark) sister. While her character isn’t fully formed yet, Hewitt said that she “has a very sort of dark, sordid story of [her] own.”
Hewitt gushed about the phone call she got from creator Ryan Murphy.
“When Ryan Murphy calls, I mean, you pick up the phone and you say, ‘Uh huh. Uh huh. OK.’ And that’s it!” she added. “That’s pretty much the conversation. I adore him, as does the world, and they should. I’ve known him a long time and I was just really honored.”
“We will be bringing in some new faces, including one you all know and love but haven’t seen in a while, the incredible Jennifer Love Hewitt,” Murphy told advertisers during the network’s 2018 Upfront presentation to advertisers on Monday. “She’s returning to Fox and I think you are going to see a whole new side of Jennifer.”
Leaving the show is regular Connie Britton who played 911 responder Abby Clark. Britton said that if scheduling permits, she would love to be back on the show.
“I think we’re gonna try and figure it out; it’s just scheduling and all the rest of it,” she said. “And that show is so ambitious. They have such a crazy schedule, too, so we’re gonna try and figure it out.”
9-1-1 returns this fall for season two on Fox.
