Peter Hewitt Biography

Date of Birth: 1965

Upon graduating from England's National Film and Television School in 1990, Peter Hewitt flew to Hollywood with his BAFTA award-winning short film, The Candy Show, in hand. Once there, Hewitt called executives from major U.S. studios and asked if he could show them his film. Soon after, he landed an agent and made his feature film directorial debut with Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991). Although not as big a success as the original, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, the movie made a profit and Hewitt was on his way.

He turned to TV next, directing the first two hours of the mini-series Wild Palms. In 1995 he directed two of the hottest teen stars around - Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Brad Renfro - in Tom and Huck. Hewitt returned to Britain to film The Borrowers (1997), based on the classic children's novel of the same name. He remained in England to helm Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999), then tried his hand at TV work again with The Princess of Thieves (2001), filmed in Romania but featuring a mostly British cast, including a young Keira Knightley as Robin Hood's daughter, Gwyn.

Hewitt co-wrote the script for his next film, Thunderpants (2002), filmed in Europe and starring an international cast that included Ned Beatty, Paul Giamatti and Rupert Grint. He returned to the States to direct Garfield: The Movie (2004), a mixture of animation and live action starring Breckin Meyer, Bill Murray and Jennifer Love Hewitt.