How Drew Barrymore Turned It Around
Pierre Perrin/Sygma via Getty ImagesDrew Barrymore in 1986. She managed to escape the perils of child-stardom and went from being an underage party girl to a beloved actress.
Still a fan favorite after over 40 years in the entertainment industry, Drew Barrymore has had countless roles in classic films such as ET, Scream, The Wedding Singer, Never Been Kissed, 50 First Dates, Fever Pitch, Blended, and more.
While Barrymore is known for her effervescent onscreen personality and relatable charm, many would be shocked to learn of the unorthodox life she led as a child.
Born in February 1975 to the highly-esteemed family of stage performers known as the Barrymores, Drew Barrymore had her first role as an actor at just 11 months old when she appeared in a dog food commercial.
Her career took off by the time she was seven years old with her first major break in the 1982 classic ET. What followed in the whirlwind of newfound fame were years of substance abuse and even a suicide attempt that forced her to be institutionalized at just 13.
Drew’s father, actor John Barrymore, was a violent alcoholic while her mother and manager, Jaid Barrymore, had no discernible sense of maternal instinct. Jaid quickly began taking her young daughter to the infamous Studio 54 when she was just nine years old.
While spending more and more time at the club, Drew began experimenting with drugs and alcohol, all while her mother encouraged her to dance with famous men.
A self-described “party girl” before she was 12, Barrymore spent the majority of her time going out with her mother and her friends up to five times per week.
At 13, she was placed in the care of a mental institution at the recommendation of her mother after becoming violent and suicidal. Spending 18 months in the institution helped the young Barrymore to clean up her act.
In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, Barrymore openly discussed her unique struggles:
“But I realized, honestly, yeah, my mom locked me up in an institution. Boo hoo! But it did give an amazing discipline. It was like serious recruitment training and boot camp, and it was horrible and dark and very long-lived, a year and a half, but I needed it. I needed that whole insane discipline. My life was not normal. I was not a kid in school with normal circumstances. There was something very abnormal, and I needed some severe shift.”
Shortly after she was released, Barrymore became legally emancipated from her mother. Surprisingly enough, it was the institution itself that had initially suggested she separate herself legally.
While her time away from the wildness of Hollywood helped her to get clean, her career took a major hit.
At 14, a world-weary Drew Barrymore had become a social outcast in the entertainment industry. With her wild-child reputation following her wherever she went, Barrymore was laughed out of auditions by casting directors who couldn’t believe she had the gall to show-up.
Determined to make a living doing whatever she could, the once-beloved Barrymore took menial jobs cleaning toilets and working in restaurants, all while attempting to maintain her own apartment as an emancipated teen.
“I had no idea how to run an apartment at 14. There was fungus growing everywhere, it was a disaster. It was in a dangerous neighborhood and I was so scared to sleep. I had bars on the window and alley cats fucking 30 feet away. I was so terrified.”
Barrymore spent three long years in Hollywood exile before making her comeback at age 17. What has followed in the wake of her hard-won sobriety and clearheadedness has been a career marked by both professional and personal success.
Now a mother of two, running the production company Flower Films, and a beauty brand called Flower Beauty, Drew Barrymore has accomplished what can almost be considered the impossible — clawing one’s way out and away from the pitfalls of child stardom.
