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Drew Barrymore was on The Today Show this morning talking about her directorial debut “Whip It,” which opens in theaters tomorrow. Whenever I see Drew interviewed I’m always shocked by how much I like her and how easily it is to relate to her. She’s been through so much in her life but managed to come out a stronger, better person for it. You can tell she’s truly reflective , and she tried to bring her life experience to her film.

“Whip It” is about a small town girl named Bliss Cavendar (played by Ellen Page) whose mother (Marcia Gay Harden) wants her to compete in beauty pageants. However Bliss discovers roller derby and meets some girls she instantly connects with. Her mother isn’t supportive of the idea, and Drew does a great job of showing the complexity of mother-daughter relationships. Talking with Ann Curry this morning, Drew points out that Marcia Gay Harden just wants what’s best for her daughter, and when she was growing up that was pageants. There’s a big focus on the motivation and the fact that it’s good, even if the result is stressful.

Drew also said some great things about how she’s changed in her thirties, and one of them really stuck with me.

“It was so wonderful for me to get to be able to make a film about what mothers and daughters go through because I’ve been through so much with my own mother, that I could really bring a lot of personal honesty and experience to it. And what I didn’t want to make was a Hollywood version of what families go through, because it’s rough, you can’t sweep things under the carpet, you have to deal with it, you have good days and bad days. And in my twenties I used to believe in happy endings – and I still do – but I my thirties I really love a good day.”

[Transcribed from the Today Show]

I love that Drew isn’t trying to gloss over the complexities within families and between mothers and daughters. And I really appreciate what she said about loving a good day. If you’re waiting for your happy ending… it’s not that you aren’t going to get it, but you might not realize it until way into the future. After all, it hasn’t ended yet. But appreciating just having a good day – that’s realistic, and it helps you to be happy each and every day. Maybe it sounds a little hokey but it definitely worked for me.

Drew was emancipated when she was 15 years old, arguing to the court that her mother, Jaid Barrymore, was a bad influence on her. She’d started drinking and smoking pot by the age of 10, was in rehab by 13, and tried to commit suicide at 14. After that she lived with David Crosby and his wife for several months. Crosby said Drew stayed with them because Drew, “‘needed to be around some people that were committed to sobriety.’” After that she got emancipated and never relapsed. In fact she’s quite the Hollywood success story, given the way child stars often turn out.

While she’s got some great insights, Drew still doesn’t have a good relationship with her mother. She told October’s In Style, “‘I am okay with my dad, but my mom and I have yet to work it out… I don’t talk about it because … how do you talk about something you’re confused about?’” And really, all Drew can do is work on herself and do what she can to recover from the relationship with her mom, and build her own happy, successful life. She can’t force her mom to be the person she needs her to be. It sounds like she’s made what peace with it that she can, and if nothing else has used all that she’s learned to bring a surprising complexity and depth to her first directorial project.

Here’s Drew and the cast of “Whip It” at the premiere in L.A. on Tuesday. Images thanks to WENN.com .