Keck's Exclusives: Jennifer Love Hewitt to Guest on "Law & Order: SVU"
Jul 30, 2010
by William Keck


After whispering to ghosts and playing a masseuse in a summer TV movie, Jennifer Love Hewitt is taking on the most serious role of her career.


"In our third hour, airing September 29, Jennifer will be playing a woman named Vicki who has been raped multiple times and is afraid to leave her house," "Law & Order: SVU" executive producer Neal Baer tells me exclusively.

"One of the reasons we wanted to do this episode is because it addresses Mariska Hargitay's passion for rape kits, which can help gather evidence to convict the rapists. But for some reason these kits have been sitting around unopened in cities all over the country."







Mariska, who has brought attention to the value of rape kits through her Joyful Heart Foundation, will also be shooting scenes in Los Angeles for this same episode.

Since this will be the lead in to "Law and Order: Los Angeles'" premiere, it seems likely that Mariska's Olivia will be interacting with the new franchise's cast to help lead viewers into Dick Wolf's latest franchise.

No comment from Baer on that.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Hewitt-Guest-SVU-1021225.aspx

Jennifer Love Hewitt Calls "SVU" Role "Raw"
Sept 29, 2010
by Robyn Ross


On Wednesday's episode of "Law & Order: SVU", Jennifer Love Hewitt guest-stars as Vicki, a woman who has been repeatedly raped by the same man for more than a decade.



Hewitt says the role is like nothing she has done before: raw and stripped-down.

"Looks-wise, wardrobe-wise, hair-wise, makeup-wise ... I had to take everything off and be something that I've never been before. It really allowed me emotionally and physically and mentally to go to a different place," she says.


Over the course of the hour, which is titled "Behave," Detective Benson (Mariska Hargitay) learns that because of an administrative backlog, thousands of rape kits each year never see the inside of a lab.






While many episodes of "Law & Order: SVU" touch on real stories, "Behave" hits close to home for Hargitay.

In 2004, the actress founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, which aims to help rape survivors heal and reclaim their lives. She recently testified in front of Congress about the rape-kit backlog.





"SVU" executive producer Neal Baer says he was inspired to do the episode after hearing the testimony of victims at a Joyful Heart fundraiser.

"One of the stories was about how they weren't opening the kits. This guy was out there and he would have been stopped years before. I leaned over and whispered to one of our writers and said, 'This is it,'" he recalls.





Hewitt hopes that her portrayal bolsters the message by putting a face to it.

"It's showing you what this issue can do to someone," the 31-year-old says. "And it's hopefully making people feel it... it's a gift that we get to be able to tell those stories. And it's a duty to tell them."

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-1023791.aspx