We celebrate a woman who’s had a diverse and successful career spanning four decades
Believe it or not, Drew Barrymore has been on our screens for over thirty years. She first got a film role at five years old and then two years later appeared in ET: the Extra Terrestrial at aged seven. Since then she transformed from a cute child actress to an accomplished adult actress in films where she plays a promiscuous obsessive teen in Poison Ivy, a gun toting outlaw in Gun Crazy and a boy loving wildcard in Boys on the Side.
She’s appeared in two franchises to date, playing minor characters in both Batman Forever and Scream, and after a decent run of supporting cast and lead character roles she finally got her blockbuster calling card with the film version of Charlie’s Angels, starring in a lead role alongside Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu. This sky rocketed her to Hollywood stardom and gave her a box office dominance and reliability that is so rare in actresses.
However, Drew Barrymore didn’t get there by sheer chance. She started a film production company called Flower Films with business partner Nancy Juvonen way back in 1995 and ensured she could produce her own films and keep central control. Flower Films produced films such as Never Been Kissed, Charlie’s Angels, Donnie Darko, 50 First Dates and Music and Lyrics and is partly responsible for Barrymore’s longevity in an industry that notoriously drops women when they go out of fashion. Flower Films also produced Whip It, Barrymore’s directorial debut in 2009, a film that saw Ellen Page take the lead role with Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig and Barrymore herself all supporting.
Since then Barrymore hasn’t directed any more movies, but we’re hoping that her attention to picking varied roles and productions in and out of Flower Films will lead to another thirty years in the industry.
1975
Born Drew Blyth Barrymore in Los Angeles, California on February the 22nd into a family of actors: her parents, grandparents and great grandparents are actors.
1975
1978
Makes her acting debut in the TV movie “Suddenly, Love” as Bobbi Graham, a two year old boy.
1978
1988
Enters rehab for her drug and alcohol addictions.
1988
1990
Releases her autobiography, 'Little Girl Lost,' about her time spent with and battling against her addictions.
1990
1995
Founded her own production company Flower Films with Nancy Juvonen.
1995
1998
Plays the rom-com lead opposite Adam Sandler for the first time in The Wedding Singer.
1998
1999
Receives her first feature producer credit for Never Been Kissed in which she also starred as Josie Geller.
1999
2000
Combines with Lucy Lui, Cameron Diaz and John Forsythe for a big screen version of 70s TV show Charlie's Angels.
2000
2004
Reunites with Adam Sandler in rom-com, 50 First Dates.
2004
2005
Starts working with as a voice actor on Family Guy.
2005
2012
Married art consultant Will Kopelman and they have their first daughter, Olive.
2012
2014
Co-starring with Adam Sandler for the third time on Blended due for UK release on the 23rd of May.