Drew Barrymore opens up about breaking the cycle of alcohol abuse in her family
Drew Barrymore has revealed how she broke her family's cycle of alcohol abuse.
Having been a star since the age of 11 months after appearing in an advertisement, the 49-year-old has lived out her many ups and downs in the public eye.
But despite all the roles in films such as ET, Charlie's Angels and 50 First Dates -to name a few - they aren't what she is most proud of.
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The Scream actor and talk show host has long been an open book about her difficult family history with alcohol abuse.
Barrymore's family, many of whom were also actors, have also had a prolific history of addiction.
Her grandfather John Barrymore, a Shakespearean actor in the 1920s and 30s, drank himself to death, while her aunt Diana Barrymore admitted to drug and alcohol use in her biography, Too Much Too Soon.
And Barrymore's father, John Drew Barrymore, has also struggled with alcohol addiction.
Speaking to People Magazine in an exclusive interview, she said: "I think, for me, stopping drinking is one of the most honoring things I can do to the Barrymore name because we have all been such hedonists."
The Donnie Darko star continued: "Don't look to me as the pillar of health and wellness and having it all together.
"It's just like, you know what? This didn't work for our family, and I'm going to stop it.
"I'm going to be the one to break the link in that chain and maybe my kids and their kids will be better off for it.
"We have to fight genetic follies that our families bring to us."
Barrymore has been upfront about her struggles throughout her career.
As a young star, she was often taken partying by her mother and was out with her and her friends up to five times a week, she told The Guardian in 2015.
“I was going to clubs and not going to school and stealing my mom’s car and, you know, I was out of control,” Barrymore said on The Howard Stern Show in 2021.
She was placed in rehab at the age of 13 by her mother and spent 18 months in a hospital for drug and alcohol addiction - which she described as 'probably the lowest'.
Although she overcame addiction in her teen years, she began relying on alcohol after her third divorce.
Barrymore said: "After the life I planned for my kids didn't work out — I almost think that was harder than the stuff [I went through] as a kid. It felt a lot more real because it wasn't just me.
"It was about these kids that I cared so much about.
"Then I probably cared so much that I was only giving to them and not taking care of myself. It was a messy, painful, excruciating walk-through-the-fire-and-come-back-to-life kind of trajectory."
After spending some time in therapy, Barrymore gave up drinking and dedicated her energy towards The Drew Barrymore Show.
"It was my kids that made me feel like it's game time," she added.
Topics: Drew Barrymore, Celebrity, Alcohol
Ben Thompson