We remember the adorable little Drew Barrymore of E.T., chasing after the little alien guy and screaming her head off. The seven-year-old Drew captured our hearts with those doe-eyes and pouty lips, and we recognized the potential in the little girl who came from such a strong acting lineage–The Barrymore Family.
We recall Drew as a troubled teen, battling drugs and alcohol and going into rehab at a tender age. Coming out of it, Drew still had a few things to work out.
We lived through Drew’s uninhibited phase, playing bad girls in the movies, girls who slept with their friend’s fathers and toted guns around, while in the real world baring all for magazines and flashing David Letterman on national television.
And, finally, we admire the grown up Drew. We watch her build a real career for herself and become one of the industry’s power players, with her own company, Flower Films, producing box office smash hits like Ever After and Charlie’s Angels. Drew has also settled down, marrying comedian Tom Green.
Drew’s now aiming for Oscar gold in her star turn as a 15-year old teen who must deal with raising a child in Penny Marshall‘s upcoming Riding in Cars with Boys.
Here’s a retrospective on the girl who would be the quintessential Barrymore:
The Child Drew
Even as a little girl big things were expected of Drew, coming, as she did, from the legendary Barrymore family.
Drew began acting at the age of two, appearing in commercials, TV movies and starring as William Hurt‘s daughter in Altered States. But it was a chance meeting with director Steven Spielberg in 1982 that set her career in motion, when she was cast at the tender age of seven as the sweet Gertie, Elliot’s excitable little sister in the Oscar-winning E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
Drew has described her experience making the film as being one of the happiest times of her life. Spielberg became a surrogate father to her in many respects. And, of course, E.T. went on to become an international box office phenomenon, turning its young actors into major movie stars.
But that’s not an easy thing for a seven-year-old. Just ask Macaulay Culkin.
In 1984, Drew starred in two more movies, both box offices bombs. The first, Irreconcilable Differences with Shelley Long and Ryan O’Neal, is about a little girl who wants a divorce from her parents when they become embroiled in an ugly custody battle. The film was tagged as a comedy. Right.
The second was the big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Firestarter. Drew played a young girl with pyrokinetic abilities, co-starring David Keith, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott. Although the book was a bestseller, the movie did not meet expectations.
Was the child star losing her appeal?
The Adolescent Drew
The other more nefarious Barrymore reputation finally caught up with the young Drew after her career started to lose momentum–“young” being the operative word. By the age of 10, Drew had already joined life in the fast life, abusing drugs and alcohol–the product of attaining fame too fast, too soon and following very much in her grandfather’s, John Barrymore’s, footsteps.
Drew continued to work sporadically in small films such as Far From Home and See You in the Morning.
Drew once said, “I know certain actors are totally screwed up on drugs, yet it gets covered up. Why wasn’t I excused for ‘exhaustion’ or ‘the flu?'”
Drew’s performance in the TV-movie 15 and Getting Straight, was to become an eerie foreshadowing. The movie, about teens coping in a chemical-dependency hospital, was indicative of things to come for the young Drew: She soon checked herself into a rehab center to “get straight.”
Could she do it?
The Bad-Girl Drew
Well, yes and no.
Once out of rehab, Drew was definitely clean, but she still had some wild living to do. Uninhibited and wild sexual abandonment was next, to be exact. Drew posed for Playboy magazine. Drew got engaged and then broke that engagement, with more than one man. Drew gave David Letterman a little extra treat by flashing him on his show.
And Drew made bad-girl movies.
In 1992, she starred in Gun Crazy about a mentally unstable, sexually abused 17-year-old girl who helps get her pen-pal released from prison, awakening his dormant sexuality as the pair goes on a wild killing spree. Fun, fun, fun.
Then she starred in Poison Ivy, playing a teenager who sleeps with her friend’s father (Tom Skerritt) and ruins their lives. All in a day’s work.
Drew even made a movie called Bad Girls with Madeleine Stowe and Mary Stuart Masterson about chicks in the Wild West.
Drew also played real-life bad girl Amy Fisher in the TV movie The Amy Fisher Story. Amy Fisher is the Long Island teen who shocked the country by shooting the wife of her older lover, Joey Buttafuoco. Drew’s performance in the movie garnered her some of the best reviews she had ever received and people started to take notice.
Was it time for Drew to grow up?
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The Grown-up Drew
Yep, Drew decided to get serious.
Drew transitioned from crazy girl to sweet and crazy in such films as Mad Love and Boys on the Side. Then she appeared in a small but powerful cameo as the first hapless victim in Scream, creating one of the more memorable horror sequences in movie history.
It took her turn as the slightly goofy but endearing Jules in the ’80s throwback The Wedding Singer opposite Adam Sandler, to restart her career and kick it into overdrive. Drew’s comedic timing was impeccable, and she finally fell into a groove that suited her.
Goodbye, slut; hello, sweetheart.
Drew then took on the role of Danielle in the romantic Cinderella update Ever After and simply charmed them at the box office. The movie did far better than anyone ever hoped it would, giving Drew the clout and respect she had never had before.
Drew formed her own production company, Flower Films, Inc., with partner Nancy Juvonen and immediately began looking for projects that worked best for Drew. Their first endeavor, Never Been Kissed (1999) had Drew cast as a nerdy newspaper journalist who returns to her old high school for a story and tries to achieve the popularity she never had during her first go round as a prep. Once again, audiences flocked to see Drew and the movie was a smash success.
But, oh, it doesn’t end there.
Last year, Flower Films produced the blockbuster hit Charlie’s Angels, with Drew, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu portraying the tough, high-flyin’ angels. A sequel is already in place.
This week Drew and her company are releasing the drama Riding in Cars with Boys, with Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy and James Woods.
Drew even got married this year to comedian Tom Green. Her quest for stability is complete.
What next?
The Future Drew
Building on her successful track record, Drew is currently developing a remake of Jane Fonda’s sci-fi camp-fest Barbarella. Drew in a bullet bra certainly works.
Drew is also considering a comedy with Ben Stiller called Duplex, where a young couple is desperate to move into a beautiful New York duplex–if only they could bump off the sweet old lady currently living there.
My, how Drew has grown.
