Jennifer Love Hewitt is one of the rare actresses who has managed to beat the former child star curse — thanks to her late mom, Patricia.

“[She] was with me all the time,” says the actress, who started in commercials when she was 3. “She was always reminding me how special getting to be in Hollywood was, but also how special going to McDonald’s with my friends was.”

That’s her plan with her 11-year-old daughter Autumn, who has appeared on mom’s show, 9-1-1, as well as the 2024 Lifetime Christmas movie The Holiday Junkie, which Jennifer directed and stars in with Autumn’s dad, Brian Hallisay, 46. (The pair are also parents to Atticus, 9, and Aidan, 3.)

“I will try to do the same for Autumn and create a balance,” says the 46-year-old, acknowledging that “the business is a lot different than it was when I started.”

Here, Jennifer — who’ll star in the highly anticipated I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel in July — talks to In Touch’s Lindsay Hoffman about show business, her secret to a happy marriage and living a magical life.

What acting advice have you given Autumn?

JLH: We’ve told her our hope is that she’ll hold off on it for a little while. But she can do little jobs in between like she’s been doing. And then if she wants to go for it, I’m there. I’ll teach her everything I know.

How has Hollywood changed?

JLH: Social media has changed so much of everything, and that’s what’s scary for me as a mom. I don’t want Autumn to have everybody giving their opinion on her and who they think she is 24/7. That’s hard on a little person’s spirit, especially when she’s not sure of who she is yet.

How was it working with Brian in The Holiday Junkie?

JLH: I love watching him. I’m his biggest fan as a husband and a person and a dad, but also as an actor. It was also a time for us [to be] away from our kids except for days they were on set — which sounds terrible, but we don’t get a lot of that time having three children! It was nice to fall in love with each other every day again.

You’ve been happily married for 11 years. What’s your secret?

JLH: Choosing each other over and over again through good and bad and the ups and downs. He’s a really easy one to choose.

You wrote the book Inheriting Magic: My Journey Through Grief, Joy, Celebration and Making Every Day Magical about losing your mom to cancer in 2012. How are you doing with that?

JLH: I honestly had no idea how I would wake up and do another day without her. I couldn’t picture it. I very quickly put one foot in front of the other and knew that she had taught me to live a beautiful, magical life — and that that’s what she would want for me. And I did. She comes with me in this giant place in my heart that is only hers every day.

How do you live a magical life?

JLH: For me, magic is a mindset. It’s an intention you set every day. Some days it works, and some days it doesn’t — that’s life. Small things [can] make every day feel a little bit more special. And that’s what we should be doing on this planet with the short time we have.