Actress Drew Barrymore grew up in the spotlight.
She began as a child star, then became a Hollywood wild child at a shockingly young age.
When most girls are playing with Barbies, she was drinking and doing drugs.
Since then, she's had a few husbands, one very memorable incident on The Late Show with
David Letterman, and a whole lot of drama.
But what's she up to these days?
Family first
Before they divorced in August 2016, Barrymore and art consultant Will Kopelman made a conscious
decision to step away from the spotlight with their two daughters.
In a 2015 interview with More magazine, Barrymore said,
"[I'm acting less] because the hours are too crazy [and] my phone isn't ringing off the
hook with great parts."
The free time allows her to be with her kids and manage other business pursuits.
In a 2016 interview with Parade, Barrymore declared that kids are her, quote, "whole
life mission," a claim she proves not only through charity work with organizations such
as Safe Kids Worldwide and Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, but also through her career
choices.
She explains,
"I don't want them to grow up on a movie set, but I figured if they came and saw beauty
stuff and design stuff and some film stuff and some charity work stuff, it's good.
I really believe in parenting by example, so if they see me in multifaceted situations,
I think that's positive."
In an interview with Today in November 2014, Barrymore predicted that her desire to cultivate
a family life would slow her career.
"It's hard to be present when you wake up before them and come home after they've gone
to bed.
That's not the way I want to have this journey with my kids at this point in their life."
Luckily for her fans, she didn't say she'll be letting go of acting forever.
"But maybe when they're older, I will feel differently.
But at this point, I think that it has to be few and far between."
Comfort zone
When Barrymore does choose to dive back onto the silver screen, don't expect her to be
wearing superhero tights or battling intergalactic foes.
Speaking with Popsugar, Barrymore said that her approach to new material is now inspired
strictly by — you guessed it — her suburbanite life, which could surely limit the number
of films she'll be willing to do.
Discussing her fear of taking on projects where she has limited creative access to the
material, she admitted,
"I would not know what to do if you put me in outer space.
I'd be like, 'Where the f--- am I?'
I love science fiction.
I'm all for it, but I would be lost as an actor.
Make it in a backyard, in a house in a suburbia, and I'm good to go."
Beauty success
Barrymore launched the cosmetics line Flower Beauty in 2013.
Though she's not the forward face of the company, like she was for CoverGirl, Barrymore is the
creative force behind the brand that's gone international within its highly lucrative
Walmart distributorship.
Barrymore told The Hollywood Reporter that her role as a CoverGirl brand rep wasn't the
only experience she had with makeup; her work in film actually helped her prepare for a
beauty line.
She explained,
"I think they are very similar because both are about storytelling and marketing."
"I was able to tell [the Walmart senior vice president of health and wellness] the story
of what Flower Beauty would be through images and through a film reel that I made for her.
I feel something when I make movies…
Both storytelling and heart really apply to beauty and film."
"I'm using a Mac lip liner, it's called "flamingo."
Oh it's magenta.
I was just hoping it was called 'flamingo.'"
The brand is so successful that it has become the "Number 1 brand sold" in nearly 4,000
Walmart stores, according to the New York Post.
Cheers
Barrymore has also dipped into the wine business with Barrymore Wines, her line of signature
vintages crafted with Carmel Road.
According to an interview with HuffPost, this is no, quote, "celebrity publicity sort of
name-slapping endeavor."
In fact, Carmel reportedly approached Barrymore when she was in Italy studying Pinot Grigio
as part of her quest to learn how to make Italian wine.
As far as what inspired her to get into the wine business, she says it's connected to
time spent with her girlfriends.
"It was what we did sitting around a table on a Sunday afternoon enjoying a bottle of
wine and just… eachother's company and conversation."
Producer hat
Barrymore has produced a slew of projects with her production company, Flower Films,
and she teamed up with TLC for the reality series Rattled, which examines how couples
react to the first year of parenthood.
The production company has had hits with How to be Single starring Dakota Johnson, which
grossed more $112 million worldwide, and with Santa Clarita Diet, the Netflix series that
Barrymore produces and stars in.
When Santa Clarita Diet landed in Barrymore's lap, she was in the middle of her divorce
from Kopelman, but their split didn't turn into a tabloid nightmare.
That reportedly left her feeling safe enough to dip her toe back into the world of super-stardom.
"I read it when I was dark place in my life and it took me out of it and it made me laugh."
She told The Guardian about her surprisingly chill experience shooting the first season
of the Netflix zombie comedy, saying,
"Ironically, it wasn't the worst timing.
It was great.
It was really happy.
It was a good summer.
My daughters and I got to go out to California and I got three days off a week."
She also felt that playing the character of Sheila, a suburban wife whose life gets turned
inside out when she inexplicably develops a taste for human flesh, was something of
a catharsis.
"I feel like Sheila.
I feel like maybe I was dead inside.
I don't know.
I was in a place in my life where I had gained a lot of weight, and been in a place of fear
and sadness, and I felt stuck.
I don't think that's so much unlike the character."
"And it's touching at the same time it has this like optimism with this craziness and
that is life, so..
I liked it!
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