Drew Barrymore
50th birthday: February 22, 2025
If you look up “Drew Barrymore documentary” on YouTube, you will find titles like “The Disturbing Childhood of Drew Barrymore” and “The Tragic (Yet Beautiful) Life of Drew Barrymore.”
In the ‘90s and early 2000s, the titles would have been even more tragic. The adults saw her flashing David Letterman and portraying “Long Island Lolita” Amy Fisher and they labeled her just another damaged Hollywood child star.
I recall reading my local television listings in the newspaper sometime in the mid-90s and seeing a description for the movie Bad Girls about women in the Wild West, which Drew co-starred in with Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell, and Madeleine Stowe. All it said was: “Gun-totin’ floozies.”
(Which says a lot about both the space constraints of print and the point of view of the writers.)
But the thing about Drew is . . . she didn’t crash and burn. She rose again and again like a phoenix from the ashes. She refused to be written off as a dumb blonde or fallen starlet.
She told her story openly and bravely in her unforgettable memoir, Little Girl Lost (1990), written with Todd Gold. I vividly remember reading it when I myself was 14, and feeling the weight of her presence and courage coming off the pages.
All it said was: “Gun-totin’ floozies.”
But the person they were describing in the tabloids and on the gossip shows wasn’t the Drew that I knew.
Along with everyone else, I fell in love with her sweetness in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Then I watched her struggle to understand her pyrokinetic powers in the screen adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Firestarter.
But the first time I felt her depth as an actress was as Casey Brodsky in Irreconcilable Differences. This movie was like a gift from the universe as I was trying to navigate my own parents’ separation.
It wasn’t just that she was a precocious whipper-snapper who wanted to divorce her parents. It was the knowing behind Drew’s eyes. It was the familiar pain of Gen X, the latchkey kids, the forgotten generation.
It was the knowing behind Drew’s eyes. It was the familiar pain of Gen X, the latchkey kids, the forgotten generation.
When the media and ogling boys tried to convince me that Drew was just another pair of boobs on the cover of Maxim, I sensed already that she was the embodiment of a different kind of maxim (otherwise known as a “short statement expressing a general truth”), one that would be made famous years later by the great Gisele Pelicot: The shame must change sides.
Like Charlie McGee, the little girl who could start fires with her mind, Drew not only rose from the ashes, but she set the damn fire herself with her passion, strength, humility, vulnerability, and zest for life.
I have many favorite Drew performances. Ever After is one of the best Cinderella stories I’ve seen. Julia Sullivan (almost Gulia) in The Wedding Singer is pure heart. And if you have any doubt of her comedic chops, look no further than Never Been Kissed.
The shame has changed sides. She’s not Josie Grossy anymore. And to many of us, she never was.
Drew Barrymore Watchlist
As with any of my watchlists, these selections are made purely on the basis of what connected with me. Sometimes they are the “best” movies and TV shows on the subject, but more often it’s just that these are what stuck with me.
The Top 5 are presented in order of my favorites, the ones I would take with me to a desert island.
Other Watching is in chronological order, and sometimes I may not even have seen it. I just think it sounds interesting, or it tells a bit more of the story about this person or topic.
Drew Barrymore Top 5
The True Story of the Barrymores (2022)
It might seem odd for my top “Drew Barrymore” feature to be a documentary about her family, but as the narrator states in the beginning, “They are to Hollywood and Broadway what the Kennedys are to politics.” There is evidence of the Barrymores being theater folk since the 18th Century (i.e., the 1700s), so it’s not a stretch to imagine some earlier Barrymore kickin’ it around the old Globe Theatre at the time of Shakespeare. Orson Welles said Drew’s grandfather, John Barrymore, was the best Hamlet he’d ever seen. This isn’t just the story of Drew’s family, it’s the story of the craft of acting.
Irreconcilable Differences (1984) — Casey Brodsky
This movie stands up to this day as a wake-up call to parents about how much kids understand—especially when they grow up in Hollywood. There are incredible performances by Ryan O’Neal and Shelley Long as the self-destructing screenwriters Albert Brodsky and Lucy Van Patton-Brodsky. And I was mesmerized by Sharon Stone as Blake Chandler doing her best Scarlet O’Hara on the set of Albert’s disastrous Civil War epic.
Never Been Kissed (1999) — Josie Geller — *Executive producer
Drew’s willingness to look awkward and unattractive in this role are iconic. Plus, you get the ever-foxy Michael Vartan (how you doin’?), Leelee Sobieski and the rest of the DNA double helix, Jessica Alba as Disco Barbie, and David Arquette as one of the most memorable brother characters in years.
Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) — Danielle
There are so many things to love about this movie — Anjelica Huston as the evil Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent, the whimsical Leonardo DaVinci character, the fuming stepsister Margeurite played by Megan Dodds, and an utterly convincing Prince Henry played by Dougray Scott. But it’s stepsister Jacqueline De Ghent played by Melanie Lynskey with her horse head on at the masquerade ball who ends up stealing your heart.
The Wedding Singer (1998) — Julia Sullivan
By the time Robbie Hart, played by Adam Sandler, is singing that he “wants to grow old with” Julia, we are convinced that she deserves it. Robbie may only be a wedding singer (as Jon Lovitz’s Jimmie Moore declares, “Well good luck trying to find a DJ who can move and shake like THIS!”), he may have been left at the altar (“Once again, things that could’ve been brought to my attention YESTERDAY!”), his best friend might be a cheeseball (delightfully played by Allen Covert of Grandma’s Boy ) and his band may not know too many songs (cue Alexis Arquette: “Do you really want to hurt me …?), but we’re equally convinced that he deserves his happily ever after too. P.S. Christine Taylor and Angela Featherstone are peak hot ‘80s ladies.
Drew Barrymore Other Watching
Altered States (1980) — Margaret Jessup
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) — Gertie
Firestarter (1984) — Charlie McGee
Amazing Stories (1985) — Girl on train
Poison Ivy (1992) — Ivy
The Amy Fisher Story (1993) — Amy Fisher
Bad Girls (1994) — Lilly Laronette
Boys on the Side (1995) — Holly
Mad Love (1995) — Casey Roberts
Batman Forever (1995) — Sugar
Scream (1996) — Casey
Home Fries (1998) — Sally Jackson
Charlie’s Angels (2000) — Dylan — *Producer
Donnie Darko (2001) — Karen Pomeroy — *Executive producer
Freddy Got Fingered (2001) — Davidson’s receptionist
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) — Beverly Donofrio
50 First Dates (2004) — Lucy Whitmore
Fever Pitch (2005) — Lindsey — *Producer
Music and Lyrics (2007) — Sophie Fisher
He’s Just Not That Into You (2009) — Mary — *Executive producer
Grey Gardens (2009) — Little Edie
Whip It (2009) — Smashley Simpson — *Producer
Miss You Already (2015) — Jess
Santa Clarita Diet (2017) — Sheila Hammond
The Drew Barrymore Show (2020) — Host — *Executive producer
