Rare Photos Of Drew Barrymore The Internet Has Never Seen Before
Drew Blythe Barrymore was born in 1975 on February 22nd. Interestingly enough, nearly her entire family was made of actors when she entered the world.
Her parents, two grandparents, and some of her great-grandparents all acted, so it wasn’t a surprise that Drew launched her own acting career at just 11-months-old in a commercial for dog food.
She went on to capture hearts all over the country at 7-years-old when she played Gertie in Steven Spielberg’s 80s masterpiece “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.”
7 years after that, Drew’s life had completely spiraled out of control and she became emancipated from her mom and dad.
Instagram; Drew Barrymore wears an Ivy Park sweatshirt, above
Instead of grabbing headlines for all of the movies she acted in, she started grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The pressure of becoming so famous so quickly at a young age, coupled with a tumultuous home life, had devastating effects on Drew.
At the age of 9, Drew’s parents got divorced. Her father was abusive and checked out, while her mom was more of a friend than a parent to her.
Speaking to Norm Macdonald on his Netflix show “Norm Macdonald Has a Show”, Drew explained, “I had a mom, but she was more like my best friend.”
“She was like, ‘Do you want to go to school and get bullied all day, or do you want to go to Studio 54?'”
“And I was like, ‘Yes, absolutely! I don’t want to spend the day with these little f****** who are just awful.’ Kids are so mean.”
Instagram; Drew snuggles her cat Peach in the above photo
So, Drew and her mom Jaid would dance and party together at Studio 54 nearly every night of the week. It was there that Drew started getting into drugs.
Drew later recounted in her book Little Girl Lost that she was going from club to club at only 10-years-old.
The media quickly caught wind of this and everyone was talking about what a party girl young Drew had become.
When Drew hit 12-years-old, she had already gone to rehab for alcohol and drugs, though it wasn’t successful for her.
A year later, her mom Jaid decided to institutionalize her since she hadn’t been able to stay clean of anything.
Drew spent the next year and a half of her life getting the treatment she needed, only to wind up back in a hospital shortly after she got out for trying to take her own life at 14-years-old.
LOS ANGELES – FEBRUARY 27: Actress Drew Barrymore poses for a photo at a cafe on February 27, 1990 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Grecco)
Jaid told the New York Post that Drew slit her wrists for the attention. The attempt on her life ended up helping Drew make an effort towards fixing everything that was broken.
Drew acknowledged in her interview with Norm Macdonald in September of 2018 that being a child star was simply “a recipe for disaster.” She had been forced to grow up far too fast.
Despite her struggle with substances, Drew was incredibly able to turn her life around at a young age too.
“But you know what’s exciting? I got my s*** over with at, like, 14. Like, midlife crisis, institutionalized, blacklisted, no family, like, got it done, and then got into the cycle of being my own parent, figuring it out,” she continued.
Drew decided that the first step in getting her life together was emancipating herself, so she did just that.
The next thing Drew did was find her very own apartment in West Hollywood, which she detailed in her book Wildflower.
LOS ANGELES – FEBRUARY 27: Actress Drew Barrymore poses for a photo at a cafe on February 27, 1990 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Grecco)
Drew then landed a job working at a trendy LA coffeehouse called the Living Room, since she wasn’t quite able to get back to acting after all the bad things she went through became public knowledge.
Even though she was 14, she had no idea how to cook meals for herself or do her own laundry, so she learned. She taught herself.
Domestic life skills weren’t the only things Drew ended up teaching herself. She had completely dropped out of school around the time she became emancipated and Drew then taught herself instead of going back to school.
Drew worked her butt off and returned to Hollywood with her edgy role in the movie Poison Ivy, which came out when she was 18-years-old.
After that movie, Drew continued to pick up parts, playing something of a “bad girl” which as we know can be limiting for those on the big screen once you become known for a certain kind of role.
Drew then starred in The Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler, and it completely changed things for her. She broke her bad girl mold.
Everyone ended up loving Drew, and the spotlight was back on her for only good reasons. From there, Drew has built herself into quite a success. Aside from acting and writing several books, Drew has gone on to be a director and producer.
She also launched her own cruelty-free makeup line called FLOWER Beauty, is a mom to two daughters Frankie and Olive, and now has her own talk show.
Drew has truly risen from the ashes to prove that with hard work and determination, you can really overcome anything.
You can learn more about Michael on his website here!
LOS ANGELES – FEBRUARY 27: Actress Drew Barrymore poses for a photo at a cafe on February 27, 1990 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Grecco)
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