Cut yourself some slack, Jennifer Love Hewitt!
The actress returned to the red carpet Monday at the Fox Upfront. She was on hand to promote her casting in Ryan Murphy's 9-1-1, marking her first TV role since Criminal Minds. Though she felt confident at the event, after seeing photos, she couldn't believe what she saw.
"It has been a really intense couple of days. Like, so great, so blessed—but intense," the 39-year-old actress said in her Instagram Stories Tuesday afternoon. "We go to the Upfront yesterday and nobody tells me the day is going to be like 12 hours long and the humidity is going to be almost 100 percent in New York City. So, I just have to apologize. Wearing a black suit? Not a good idea. Not wearing enough hairspray and teasing in my hair? Also a bad idea."
"I just have to apologize for how wrecked I look in all the pictures that have come out. I was literally melting. By the time I got to the red carpet, I was honestly melting," she said. "My hair was flat, my makeup was running off my face and I looked like I had completely forgotten I was an actress in this business who is supposed to look [perfect] when you step on the red carpet."
"That is not what I'm going to look like on the show. I'm going to have makeup on my face. I'm not going to be sweating. I'm not going to be overwhelmed by being in front of a red carpet and crews again. Honestly, I apologize," she said with a laugh. "I should've really gotten it together!"
Hewitt hadn't slept "all night," thanks to her two toddlers. "It was our first time traveling with them," she explained. "Traveling with toddlers…wow. I had no idea. I mean, I waited this long because I knew that it was going to be hard. First of all, let me say: My kids were ballers. Amazing! They did a great job." Hewitt said she suffers from anxiety and is afraid to fly, so she relied on Brian Hallisay's help. "My husband is a saint," she said. "He really held it all together."
In spite of how she felt about her appearance, Hewitt told her Instagram followers, "I had an amazing time in New York, I had an amazing time with my family, but I'm happy to be home!"
9-1-1 is the first series Hewitt will be shooting since becoming a mom, and it's "going to be a whole new learning thing," she admitted, adding that she's "really grateful for the opportunity."
To get ready for her return to television, an exuberant Hewitt promised fans, "I'm going to be killing my boxing workouts again, getting in great shape mentally, physically and emotionally for all that's ahead when we start the season. I'm just feeling really grateful, so I hope you're excited. I'm excited. And I'm really sorry for looking like a hot mess on the red carpet yesterday. Oh, my God! I was so hot! I was like literally melting. Like, melting. Melting! But...I had a blast!"