InStyle’s Drew Barrymore cover is so ‘70s! I love it! I love the vintage t-shirt and the high-waisted pants. I’m not in love with fur-lined coat, but it does complete the look. Drew covers InStyle to promote her new CBS talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show. She hasn’t started filming as of this interview, and she doesn’t know when she will get going. There’s such a high turnover in daytime talk shows these days and honestly, I don’t think Drew is going to be good at this at all. But sure, let’s dive into this interview – you can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
She loves Mondays: “Yes! Mondays have been so crapped on. But for me, it’s not the start of a long week or this mammoth thing that’s blue and terrible. I’ve been festering all weekend, working myself into a lather. Everyone is back to work on Monday. Get it done, son!
On social media: “Social media gives everyone a platform, but growing up in Hollywood, I hated soapboxes. So, first, I was like, “I don’t want to give messages that way, and I’m not sure I want to post a lot, period.” There was no social media when I was younger, but everything was very much out there about me. That was a great training ground — it wasn’t necessarily my choice, but it was best not to kick and scream about it. I was in a job where it was fair game for my behavior to make headlines, and I never had bitterness or a chip on my shoulder about the way my life went… And I got to enjoy the ’90s, which was hella fun. There was a nice middle in the sandwich that was delicious and completely untapped. You didn’t know everything about everyone — there wasn’t the technology for it. Then you get into the 2000s with Y2K and everything becoming botlike. Who would’ve thought that someone would create something that’s in literally every person’s hand? I mean, that wasn’t in George Orwell’s book [1984], but it might as well have been.
What she’s most proud of: “Obviously, I’m most proud of my two daughters. Nothing in my life’s journey was like, “It’s gonna happen for you.” And having kids was not something I wanted to get wrong. So I waited a long time.
What she says to her daughters about BLM & protests: “I don’t watch the news in front of them because I worry about the images. But I also do not believe in bringing them up in any type of bubble. We all marched in the Women’s March. I was speaking to a wonderful educator, Britt Hawthorne, and she said if you’re talking to your kids about George Floyd, talk about how this has affected the world. It’s not to flower things up in an unrealistic way but to focus on the outcome of something.
How she takes care of herself: “I eat really clean and healthy, and I do an hour of Pilates at least four days a week. I have to work so hard at not being the size of a bus. And it’s OK. That is just my journey. That is my karma. I don’t know, maybe I was thin and mean in a past life. Other than that, between homeschooling and working, I felt very overwhelmed at first — and I hate feeling overwhelmed. It was weird to be a mom and a teacher and a provider and a friend. I felt sad for a while that I was all I could offer my children. Then I realized that I had to get out from under it. I have so much empathy and patience for everyone but myself, it’s sick.
The ‘90s were so much fun. Sh-t was just different back then and the kids don’t really understand. We didn’t have social media. Most of us didn’t have cell phones. We read real newspapers and the “biggest political scandal” was President Clinton getting a beej in the Oval as he made work calls. And that breed of ‘90s celebrities were different too – actresses very rarely “dressed up” or had stylists on-call, and everything wasn’t so homogenized and filtered and inspo. I think it’s interesting to see all of these late-era Gen Xers (like Drew) and Xennials (like me) really look back on that decade with such whimsy and joy.
Re: “I have to work so hard at not being the size of a bus. And it’s OK. That is just my journey. That is my karma. I don’t know, maybe I was thin and mean in a past life.” I honestly think about this all the time, whether I was a thin model in another life and my karma got mixed up and now I have a lockdown gut/lockdown ass. I think about karma boobs a lot too, like whether I had A-cups in another life and that’s why mine are so big now. It’s weird that Drew thinks about those things too!
As for liking Mondays… when I was in school, I actually did like the start of the school week too, and I always felt like such a nerd for it. Now that I gossip for a living… I don’t like Mondays. But Wednesdays and Thursdays are actually the worst.
Cover & IG courtesy of InStyle.
I love Drew. I think she really is a nice person and a great actress. Her optimism is something that we need these days. But I really don’t think she has the personality to be a talk show host. I see the talk show commercials and I think it’s cute but at the same time I don’t feel like it will last. Hopefully I’m wrong!
Karma boobs 😂
Guess I was anorexic in a previous life.
The 90s WERE a lot of fun, but I think a large part of that is just sheer nostalgia. I was born in 82, so whatever that makes me – xennial? – and so the 90s were my preteen/teenage years, middle school and high school and that time was just fun in general. But I think many people say that – people who were teenagers in the 80s say that, etc.
But I do think we were in a nice pocket of constant entertainment and still being bored. Like we had basic cable, and I could watch a lot of MTV and VH1 but there always came a point where there just wasn’t anything on TV, for example, and you couldn’t just look on demand. I would read a ton of books but there came a point when I had read every book in our house and I didn’t have a car to go to the library, so I would reread the books. I could call my friends on the phone and talk to them and make plans, but if they weren’t home I just left a message and hoped that I was home when they called me back. etc.
I hate to be all “kids these days” but I do look at people even 10-15 years younger than me and the immediate gratification is definitely there – between the internet in general and their smartphones etc – they can always find “something” to do or someone to talk to and I think it can be a good thing sometimes but a bad thing at other times.
Anyway for Drew – she has turned out really well overall, I think if you were in the 80s/90s speculating on Drew Barrymore in 20-30 years, your prediction would probably be pretty far from reality.
Becks1, how you put this is perfect! I was born in 1976 so I understand exactly what you are trying to say. Happy Friday!
I’m older than that but she could have been describing my teen years in the 80s, too. Except that our fashion was a lot more hideous, lol.
Granted he was too young to have technology at his disposal yet but my Gen Z son picked up my habit of re-reading books over and over. I think he read the Harry Potter series four times.
And the 90s were pretty fun for me as a young adult, too. Simpler times for sure in many ways. At least the lack of social media piece of it.
@Esmom – I thank the powers that be at least once a week that we didn’t have social media in the 90s. The beginnings of emails and the internet, yes (I remember posting a lot on a Fleetwood Mac message board in high school LMAO) but between Facebook, IG, twitter, snapchat, and whatever else the youths are into these days…..I know I would not have handled it well.
@Lola – thanks! and happy Friday to you!
@Becks1 – I’m ’83 and I couldn’t agree with you more! High school was during an era before texting, so passing notes was the highlight of my day. The excitement when you got a note and saved it to devour during the first 5 minutes of class so you could spend the next 20 minutes writing the perfect reply? You don’t get that same satisfaction with texting.
Now I have a constant need for instant gratification. Sigh. Let’s bring notes back.
I used to draw a “picture of the day” doodle in all of my passed notes. I came up with some whoppers!
I was born in 1981 and completely agree with you, but I also think the youngins today crave what we had. My daughter is almost 13 and she loves watching old shows like Friends, she said she wishes she grew up like that because it looks like a lot of fun and they just hang out and talk without phones and all the drama that comes with them. There’s so much pressure on them in ways we can’t understand. It makes me sad for them.
Was too high & immature to manage a for real thing like social media in the 90s. Dyed the ol’ pubes purple as lean mean BF was into punk rock. Contemporaries & I senility repeat how lucky our gen was to have zero cell phone pix of heinous 90s exploits & “experiments”- I was in my 20s then….all very not good stuff. But like Drew, I shamed myself well & final out of “good times” & now ready for parenting…Drew is deservedly iconic as she made it out alive & thriving w a sense of humor!!
I was born in 1978 so the 90’s were my teenage years. I’m so, so grateful I got to go to high school with no social media.
Becks, I’m also a 1982/Xennial, and I’ve heard it suggested that we’re in a “micro”-generation all our own, for exactly the reason you state. Young millennials probably don’t remember having to run to the payphone to call mom from the movie theater and apologize for being out late! My friends and I used to drive around until we could find a clandestine spot to smoke cigarettes. In other words, being bored was a way of life… and I definitely miss it.
Editing to add: Oh yeah, I’ve heard “Oregon Trail Generation” suggested as a term to describe us Xennials who *kind of* grew up with technology, but didn’t really rely on it.
Must be nice, I was young in the ’90’s too.
I worked 60 hours a week, 2 jobs because ya know…Poor.
We all have different journies. I was poor too but back then it didn’t take much for me to be happy.
I started the 2/3 job thing in the 2000’s to compensate for “wanna be” celeb party phase.
I think that’s definitely a rare opinion on Mondays. For me it isn’t really Mondays that I hate, it’s the thought of Monday approaching. Starting in middle school, I would get so anxious on Sunday nights thinking about going to school on Monday that I’d either throw up or not sleep. Not because I was a bad student, I was incredibly shy. I would lay there in bed on a Sunday night worrying about who I could eat lunch with that week or what I would do when every other girl in my class had roses sent to her on Valentine’s Day and I wouldn’t get one. (BTW, that’s the dumbest school fundraiser and I hope it’s no longer a thing.) It’s stuck with me forever. When I worked in BigLaw working insane hours, I’d freak out about all of my outstanding work on Sunday nights and work myself into a tizzy. Even now, I work a super flexible schedule. I could not bill one hour on a Monday if I didn’t want to, and I still get anxious on Sunday night thinking about Monday approaching.
Pre-Covid, Monday’s were my favorite day. All three kids back to school, husband back at work – I could finally settle in and get stuff done at work and at home. Weekends were spent shuttling kids to activities and sports, and I would spend the in-between time running errands. Nothing about the weekend was relaxing. Now that all the days just run into one big blob of time, I don’t have the same Monday excitement. My husband was laid off in May, and the three kids are desperate for interaction and stimulation. I’m working two jobs to try and make up for the financial hit, while being the boredom-buster and psychotherapist for two girls in puberty and the cutest, but needy, five year old boy. We are fortunate to be in the situation we are because it could be much worse, but I AM missing my Monday morning quiet.
I really like the photoshoot.
She’s a good egg. I’m glad she made it through her teens and 20s.
The 90s for me were high school and college, so fun yes, but also so much insecurity and worrying what other people thought. I’d love to have that energy again, but I’m now in my IDGAF 40s, and it’s wonderful.
I am incredibly grateful I didn’t grow up in the era of social media though. I got the fun beginning of the internet – hey I can send free letters to friends via email! Hey I can research stuff online for school papers!
Same! 🙂
The 90’s were the best. We had great fashion, i was out all the time and felt safe, we called and spoke to people, I had a free hotmail account with a stupid name that I still use and am embarrassed about it, we had great rnb hip hop music, our shoe game was so hot, i would hang out with friends 90’s style, everything was cool. I miss the 90’s and even my daughter who is a teenager watches our teen movies from the 90’s and want to live through it. Sigh…
I was a wild child in the 80’s. Thank gawd there was no social media.
It’s sad that she is in her 40’s and raising two daughters, yet still thoughtlessly perpetuating negative body image stereotypes. Being a certain weight or size is not some gauge of your moral character, either in previous lives or this one. I’m way older than her, but I’m trying to learn and move beyond judging or downgrading myself or others for how our bodies look.
Maybe she’s just health-minded. Just because we want to stay in a healthy weight range (and don’t go off on me because you think someone who’s 5’1″ and weighs 200 lbs is a healthy weight) is not perpetuating negative body image stereotypes. Obesity is one of the biggest health problems in north america today, with its attendant illnesses like heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. etc. I’m 67 and work hard at staying fit – I eat well, exercise 4-5 times a week, and if I see my weight edging up a bit I’ll cut back on portion size and that second glass of wine at night.
Don’t malign people because they want to maintain a healthy weight.
Maybe she’s changed or grown or whatever… I used to love Drew, but her reaction to Trump’s caging of immigrant children along the border absolutely lost me. I remember she posted an Instagram picture and the caption was all about “this isn’t political, don’t make it about different sides of the political spectrum, my heart is breaking for these kids and we need to save them but please don’t make this about the republicans and Trump because it’s not about them”. Made me think that she is secretly a Karen in real life… “I care so much about equality that I will definitely say I care about it but please don’t question or call out my politics and whether or not my caring extends to the voting booth.”
She deleted the post after people asked her how to not make it political since it was literally the platform of the president’s political party to be doing this… but I unfollowed and never went back so who knows. Maybe she’s changed.
The 90’s were fun, you could go out be insane. No one was taking pictures on their phones or couching everything around social media. You could just be yourself and wear fun clothing, hair and makeup . And not be influenced to buy something because a kid from youtube tell you to. I do miss those days.
I was born in 93 and I’ve said a million times that I wish I’d been born 10 years earlier. I grew up watching all the classic 90s teen movies and it always just seemed like an easier time. Texting and social media and such we’re going to show up eventually but it would have been nice to have the luxury of growing up without them.
I had Facebook all through high school, branched into Snapchat and Instagram in college, and shortly after graduation I deleted them all and haven’t looked back. I tend to be a little bit of an oddity amongst most of my peers but can find like-minded people if I look hard enough. My younger sister was born in 2000, so just 7 years younger. 7 years of changes to the digital landscape made her adolescent wildly different from mine. She’s said herself that she’s beginning to feel exhausted by it but she can’t bring herself to leave it all, so she just tries to cut back.
Late gen-X here, my 18 year old stepson asked me what it was like being a teenager in the 1990’s and this is how I described it to him.
Most of us, my friends and everyone I knew, were products of divorce or had grown up as latch-key kids during the 80’s, so it’s like independence and self reliance was expected of us. It was necessary for our parents and us to survive. I mean we could drive at 15 and drink at 18. We were left alone. We experimented early on with sex, drugs, jobs, adult-hood, so Childish things were left behind from a young age.
There was a certain amount of apathy so not much shocked us, and if it did, we suppressed it. I feel like the kids my age knew their parents were too busy working to concern themselves with us, so they just let us figure out life on our own, right or wrong.
To a certain degree I am thankful for that. I grew up independent and self-reliant.
best comment ever. totally sums up my generation.
Yeah I think people get caught up in the things that were outwardly visible to the public. The style, the music, etc etc. but they aren’t focusing on what made us, “US” and what was the momentum and drive behind those times. Those were the times when you buried your fears and pain behind a flat affect, you just carried on.
That’s why teenagers were so profoundly effected by the death of Tupac and Kurt Cobain among others. Because our those artists work resonated With us. They could say the things we couldnt, or wouldn’t.
The 90’s were a spiritual underground that only those who experienced it could ever be privy to.
my 90’s were….
Supermodels
Santa Barbara (the soap)
the best music in all genres
the best hip hop
grunge fashion and music
hanging in the basement
chill everything
coming out
Ray of Light album
awww great memories.
Yes to all this!
I’ve always really liked Drew and am a big fan. She’s sweet and unpretentious, however I side eye most of her close girlfriends who seem to be bitches or have actually shown that they are.
The 90s were transcendentally laid back but spectacular for me. I was a young adult, in the best shape of my life through exercise and rollerblading lol), I left my cheating husband early in the decade, worked at a PR music firm (I lived in Austin so…FUN AS SHIT), was finishing college at the university, playing with my baby boy and every other weekend after I drove him to be with his father, I went out partying, playing and dancing with huge groups of guys and gals who for some reason thought I was the person to be around lol. By Sunday night, driving home, after picking up my kid, to a place all our own, firing up my pc for some schoolwork and getting ready for MONDAYS was the best time of my life.
I still wouldn’t trade all this tech, viewing and delivery options for another go at the 90s. I waited too long for my tech to get here, and I’m not leaving it! Plus it’s all exponential now, so growth is faster. So exciting.
OH, how I viscerally miss the 90s! I was in grad school. No money, no problems. Great music. Going out ALL the time. Feeling smoking hot in a pair of chunky platform heels I picked up for $10 on the LES. The Reagan era was over, the economy was blazing, the tech revolution seemed poised to do only good for the world. We were at least starting to get woke re: LBGTQ+, and yes we had a good long way to go towards understanding racial justice. But it felt like we were moving forward to better days as a country and a world.
I continue to dislike the fat-phobic, thinspiration way she talks about her body.
Wanting to maintain a healthy body weight is not fat-phobic, it’s staying healthy. Obesity rates in north america are skyrocketing along with attendant illnesses like arthritis, diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure and cholesterol. etc. etc. I continue to dislike people who think it’s fat-shaming to want to be in a healthy weight range.
Drew might do well in this format. She used to co-host a talk show style segment on Turner Classic Movie’s The Essentials for 3 years. She was solid and had good insights, knew the material, but the very serious academic-esq set-up of the program didn’t suit her very bubbly, airy Drew style. The kind of hippie meets valley girl freewheeling personality she has didn’t showcase the best in such environment. You could see her trying to reign in her exuberance a lot. But that would be perfect for a daytime talk show with other celebrities. And she, unlike Ellen for instance, is legitimately endlessly sweet which is what people want in a host.
I don’t think Drew and Wynona ever made a movie together, I’d love to see them do it now. A cutsey 90s style movie, no special effects