Drew Barrymore’s Work

Woman of the year for Teen Magazine, Drew Barrymore had a future in acting before she was even born. Born in West Hollywood, California, Drew had a long line of relatives in the business. Acting Legends, as they were known as in Hollywood. But the only thing Drew really wanted was the one thing she did not have, a real family. Her mother, Jaid, was a single, working mother handling two jobs so Drew could live a comfortable life. Her father on the other hand was an alcoholic with a drug addiction, he was very abusive. Drew’s parent’s had divorced before Drew was even born. Since her mother had two jobs, Drew was always left with a babysitter, sometimes feeling abandoned.

Drew was a born actor, if she was not acting on camera she was dressing up and acting for her babysitter. She loved to pretend she had the perfect family. But Drew got her chance to star in a big movie soon enough. It was Steven Spielberg’s big picture “E.T.”. Drew loved the feeling of being on the set of the movie. Mostly because she felt like it was an extended family, the one she never really had. When the movie came out it became a big hit instantly. All around the world Drew was known as the little “E.T. Girl”.

As Drew grew older her attitude was slowly getting too mature for her age. Making more and more movies as the years were passing. She was becoming more mischievous and wanting to try new things. Her and her friend Chelsea both had snuck cigarettes and smoked them in Drew’s bathroom before they went out to a nightclub with their mom’s. Drew was a little scared because she knew her mom was good at telling if someone had smoked or not. Luckily they got through the whole drive there without their mom’s knowing. After they got through lying and getting away with it, they felt pretty good about themselves. But soon Drew was getting bored of just cigarettes and wanted to get a little more extreme. So Drew started drinking alcohol. She immediately fell in love with alcohol. She would drink until she passed out. She loved the feeling of getting drunk; it was the after feeling that she did not like.

Drew was still very young and the more she kept from her mother and lied to her the more their relationship suffered. But the smoking and drinking was not enough for her. Drew was in Amy’s car (one of Drew’s close friends), well actually it was Amy’s mom’s car (one of Jaid’s close friends), with some of their other friends. Amy’s mother was smoking pot and they were all surprised when Amy’s mother offered them some. And of course without even thinking twice Drew accepted the offer and had her first try of pot.

Drew had been slowly growing up and she had many boyfriends and experimented with a lot of drugs. Drew had little encounters with her father along the way and she wasn’t too fond of him. All he ever asked Drew for was money and all Drew wanted was for him to love her. But one night Drew went out with some friends and got wasted, but she called her mom and told her to get out of the house and leave and not to be there when she got home. So Drew got as wasted as she wanted and when she got home and saw her mom’s car in the driveway she was furious. She was so angry and did not know what to do. When she walked into the house she saw her mom with Chelsea (one of her old friends that went to rehab and she did not talk to her after that) and Chelsea’s mother.

That night Drew was taken to the ASAP hospital. As the doctors were saying what the drug test had shown, Jaid broke out into tears. As the tech’s tried to help Jaid , Drew was taken to the back to settle in. Drew was kept hospitalized for about two months and then taken out shortly after to shoot a movie. Which she ruined her sobriety in. Drew was starting to slowly open up to the group when she got back to the hospital after the movie. About eight months into her sobriety Drew went out with her friend, Andy, and messed up her sobriety again. The thought of it kept bringing Drew down. She could not stand lying to her mother.

One day her and her mom went to their condo in New York and she slept over one of her friend’s house. Drew once again ruined her sobriety. When Drew returned home with her friend, she took her mother’s credit card and got two tickets to California and two tickets to Hawaii. They then headed back to California to get some supplies for their trip. When they got to Draw’s house they went on a cocaine drive. A few moments later there were two people at the door there to escort her back to the ASAP hospital once again.

Drew was once again in the hospital, the difference this time was her mom also checked into a family hospital to work on herself and how to improve her relationship with Drew. The hospitalization was working and a lot more affective this time. By the end of this session a lot had changed, in Drew, in her relationship with her mother, and her relationship with her father. Drew kept her sobriety this time even though she was having a difficult time with it.

What I learned from Drew Barry more was to not give up on things. She did some bad stuff but she learned from her mistakes in the end. She worked out her problems and though she lived a life exact opposite of what she wanted, she learned to deal with it.

QUESTIONS ABOUT HER PAST AND PRESENT

Hello, if you do not mind, we can get started now.

1.I have heard you had a rough childhood, how was your childhood life?

Well my mom raised me; she was a single, working mother. My parents had gotten divorced before I was born. I had always wanted one of those perfect families’s like the ones you would see on TV. But it was like I was put with the exact opposite. My mom worked two jobs so I could live a little more comfortable. The problem with that was I was left with a babysitter most of the time. And then as I got a little older the whole drug and alcohol thing struck me.

2.Now, you come from a long line of legendary actors in your family, did you know much about them?

I did not know my family as well when I was little. But when I got into the business I had a chance to learn a little more about them. I never knew how famous and well known they were. But when I heard about all the drinking and drugs that my family was involved in I got kind of disgusted. Not knowing, of course what I would be up to in the next few years.

3.We all know about the drug addiction and alcoholism, how was it like at the hospital?

At first I refused to even get along with anyone or even talk to anyone there. I mean I was a teenager and I was stubborn. I felt like I was being locked up and put away. For me it wasn’t getting help, it was my mom just trying to get rid of me. But that was then, I know now why she put me in the hospital. And I realized that she saved my life and I probably would not be here today if it was not for.

4.How long were you kept hospitalized?

I kept going in and out of the hospital. But I think if you were to add it all together you would get around a year and a half to two years. I never kept track, I would just count the days till I got out.

5.You said you did not have a good relationship with you mother, did the hospital change that?

My mother and me were constantly fighting. It would be me screaming and hollering at her and her just crying and me running into my room to smoke a cigarette. The hospital completely changed that; my mother is like my best friend now.

6.How was your relationship with your father John Barrymore?

What can I say about him? He was an alcoholic, who abused my mother. He never tried to make any contact with me. But no matter what he did, I would think of him like a hero. I think it is because I thought the more I thought he was like a hero, the faster he would change into one. But he proved me wrong and he never changed.

7.Was being a child actor fun for you or all work? And was it your choice to go into it?

I liked acting. I had so much fun doing it. But there was a certain point where I would think, “am I doing this for me or my mother?” I still loved it, but there were times I felt very overwhelmed.

8.Now, I hear about you lately getting engaged to Tom Green, could you tell us anything about that?

He is a great person. He just makes me laugh all the time. He is not always that crazy though. He has a part in the movie Charlie’s Angels. And it is hysterical.

Well, thank you so much for taking the time out of your buisy schedule to talk to us.

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