Drew Barrymore: A more than colourful life

We first met Drew Barrymore in 1982 in her memorable role as Gertie in the iconic film E.T. Drew Barrymore is one of those rare child actresses that had managed to go through some pretty turbulent times as a teenager and come out at the end of it to become one of the most successful actresses and producers of all time. From child actress, rebellious teenager, Guinness World Records holder, romantic-comedy icon and her new hit show on Netflix Santa Clarita Diet, here are some interesting facts about Drew!
The Beginning
Drew Blythe Barrymore was born on February 22, 1975 to American actor John Drew Barrymore and Jaid Barrymore. It's no surprise that Drew became an actress, she is the granddaughter of film legend John Barrymore, and comes from five generations of famous actors! In fact, Drew made her first TV appearance at just 11 months old when she appeared in a commercial!
The Godparents
Even Drew's godparents are legends in the business. Legendary actresses Sophia Loren and Anna Strasberg are her godmothers while director Steven Spielberg is her godfather. Not only did he give Drew her first big break in E.T. but he kept looking out for her. In 1995, on Drew's 20th birthday, he gave her a quilt with a note that said "Cover yourself up". Enclosed with the present was a copy of the January 1995 issue of Playboy where Drew had posed bare. Spielberg got his art department to photoshop the images so that she was fully clothed!
The Fame
Drew became a household name when she was just 7 years old thanks to E.T and in that same year she became the youngest person to host Saturday Night Live, a record that hasn't been broken yet! Her mother took her to parties at the legendary club Studio 54 and to other industry events which unfortunately led Drew to have her first drink at nine, stared drugs at 10. But Drew worked hard to get clean and even wrote a successful autobiography in 1990 titled Little Girl Lost. She was just 15 at the time making her the youngest person to write an autobiography according to Guinness Book of World Records. The book went out of print multiple times.
The Movies
After getting clean, Drew proved that she was still a great actress even as an adult by starring in movies like Poison Ivy, Bad Girls, Boys on the Side, and Everyone Says I Love You. She was originally offered the lead role in Scream (1996) but chose to play Casey Becker because she thought it would be more fun. Soon after that, she decided to venture offscreen and created her own production company Flower Films in 1997. The first production was the 1999 Barrymore film Never Been Kissed - which was huge! Since then, Flower Films has gone on to produce movies such as Charlie's Angels, 50 First Dates, Music and Lyrics, as well as the cult film Donnie Darko.
Love Life
At the age of 19, Drew got married to a bar owner Jeremy Thomas after dating him for just six weeks. The ceremony was held inside the bar that Thomas worked at - they divorced after two months. Then in 1999, Drew started dating comedian Tom Green and got married two years later. They divorced in 2002 and still speak highly of each other. In 2012, Drew married Will Kopelman the former CEO of Chanel and had her first child, Olive, later that year and a little over two years after that, they had another girl they called Frankie. However, in 2016 they released a statement confirming they had separated and intended to divorce.