When rummaging through the memoir section of Audible several months back, I came across the very intriguing title Wildflower by none other than Ms. Drew Barrymore. The cover pictured a 50-years-young Drew jumping in the air holding, not surprisingly, a wildflower. While normally I may have scrolled past and not thought a second longer about it, something inside me was intrigued. 7 hours and 5 minutes later, I was not disappointed.
Drew Barrymore. Hollywood resident “quirky girl.”
While many women have taken that title and run with it, Ms. Barrymore, in my opinion, earned it in the best way possible. With an impressive 80+ movies on her IMDb acting credit list, Barrymore has wormed her way into the hearts and homes of movie-viewers everywhere. But what makes her journey special?
While the vast majority of people know Drew as a beloved actress and now producer/talk show host, it was nothing of a typical journal for the young star to arrive here. Growing up in Hollywood Hill, every aspect of Barrymore’s childhood was atypical. Barrymore’s father, John Drew Barrymore, was not around during her childhood. Instead, she spent her time with her single mother- Jaid Barrymore.
Although there was no dad figure in her life, Drew explained her mother’s affinity for bringing gay men and drag queens into their home. While this sounds fairly peculiar to the average reader, Barrymore explained in her memoir that this was the culture by saying,
“…and the drag queens. That was just a fact that the kids from our neighborhood grew up with. ‘Mom, is it a man or a woman?”
In addition to the rotation array of houseguests, Drew also talked about her nextdoor neighbor, Jonie, by saying,
“Jonie was eccentric. She had electric blue hair, or neon green, and would slink around the apartment like an exhibitionist with very little clothing, often having two cockatoos perched one on each shoulder.”
What sounds like a TV sitcom written by an AI chat bot was the actual, everyday life for little Drew. After Jonie and her son, Daniel (Barrymore’s best friend) moved away, a new couple moved in. She described her attachment to them, and specifically the man, Joel, by saying,
“ I took right to them. Especially Joel as I was starving for anything straightforward. Like an unconfused male.”
When Drew was 6-years-old, she was cast to play Gertie in Steven Spielberg’s ET. The Extra Terrestrial. During the filming of the movie, she grew a very tight relationship with him and, at one point, asked him to be her dad. While Steven had to politefully decline, he did, eventually, end up becoming her God-Father and credits his time on that film set for his desire to have children of his own.
“I have to give ET full credit for making me want to be a dad because, I really was, you know, for three and half months, a father to those kids- especially to Drew.
To this day, Barrymore says he’s one of the most important people in her life.
The Dark Years
Like many young children in Hollywood, Barrymore received access to drugs and alcohol and the heartbreaking age of 9 years old. By 13, her mother made the decision to have Drew institutionalized.
Putting a child in the industry from birth had adverse reactions? Who could’ve seen that coming?
After her release at 14, Barrymore was legally emancipated from her mother and began the very rocky journey to adulthood. While finding a place to live, getting a job, and learning how to do basic life-skill tasks, Drew continued her acting career. By 18, she had successfully worked on over 10 film projects.
A Producer in the Making
In 1995- at 20 years old- Barrymore teamed up with Nancy Juvonen to found Flower Films- an independent production company that allowed the women to explore their passions for film-making and production. Four years later (1999), the company produced their first film, Never Been Kissed.
With a modest budget of $25,000,000, the film brought in a shocking $84,565,230. In 2005, Flower Films produced Fever Pitch starring Drew and and the up-and-coming hollywood hit- Jimmy Fallon. On this set, Fallon and Juvonen fell and love and were officially married in December of 07’.
In 1998, Barrymore starred opposite a young Adam Sandler in the unbelievably successful film, The Wedding Singer. In addition to Drew’s company Flower FIlms, Sandler owns his own production company- Happy Madison Productions.
In 2004, both companies came together to produce the oh-so beloved hit 50 First Dates. With a budget of $75,000,000, the film grossed almost $200 million dollars worldwide and ranked 26th in the box office in its release year. Three years later, in 2007, Flower Films produced Music and Lyrics with writer/director Marc Lawrence bringing in a whopping $145,896,422 worldwide off a $40 million dollar budget.
In 2000, the production company bought the rights to Charlie’s Angels and went on to produce Charlie’s Angels (2000) and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003). Both films grossed over $250 million dollars respectively.
While the 50-year-old actress has an impressive success record, not all of her projects have been an instant success.
Duplex, starring Drew and Ben Stiller, is considered one of her least successful roles. The movie was not well received by audiences nor critics with a rotten tomato score of 40% (audience) and 35% (critics). While potentially charming on paper, a story about a couple attempting to get rid of an obnoxious old lady was not exactly what the 2003 audience was looking for.
Lucky You, however, has to take the cake for the most egregious flop of her career. Budgeted at $55,000,000, the film only managed to bring in a measly $8,461,686 and sustained an impressively awful 28% on rotten tomatoes for both the audience and the critics.
The New Era
After 50 years, 3 marriages, 2 kids, and one child-star scandal, Drew has settled into an exciting and successful time in her life. Since 2020, Flower Films has produced The Drew Barrymore Show- a daytime talkshow for optimistic entertainment.
In addition to The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress owns Flower Beauty, a cosmetic line, Beautiful by Drew, a home and kitchenware company, and DREW Magazine. DREW has since ceased production, however, Flower Beauty and Beautiful by Drew continue to flourish.
Sources
The Drew Barrymore Show, https://www.thedrewbarrymoreshow.com/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
Barrymore, Drew. Wildflower. Penguin Publishing Group, 2016. Audible. Accessed 9 July 2025.
Carson, Johnny. “Drew Barrymore’s Journey From Child Star to Rom-Com Queen | ET Vault Unlocked.” YouTube, 16 February 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq2OVMjRXZk. Accessed 9 July 2025.
“Charlie’s Angels (2000).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160127/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305357/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
Cobb, Ed. “Fever Pitch (2005).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332047/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
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“Duplex (2003).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266489/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
“Happy Madison Productions.” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/list/ls079301020/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
Hollywood’s Master Storytellers. “Drew Barrymore, and Nancy Juvonen discuss starting Flower Films.” YouTube, Google, June 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqut89KvygU&list=PLmrT2wTGky_TEdaTf2WhUEvRpeVyXMqDO. Accessed 9 July 2025.
“Lucky You (2007).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338216/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
“Music and Lyrics (2007).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758766/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
Vance, Paul, and Lee Pockriss. “Never Been Kissed (1999).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151738/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_never%2520been%2520k. Accessed 9 July 2025.
Vanity Fair. “Drew Barrymore Breaks Down Her Career, from “E.T.” to “Flower Beauty” | Vanity Fair.” YouTube, Google, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWpgPeRZ6Gs&list=PLmrT2wTGky_TEdaTf2WhUEvRpeVyXMqDO&index=2. Accessed 9 July 2025.
“The Wedding Singer (1998).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120888/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
Wilson, Brian, et al. “50 First Dates (2004).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343660/. Accessed 9 July 2025.
