01 June 2007

Young Filmmaker – Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore

At age eight, Drew Barrymore became a world star for her role as the little sister, Gertie, in Stephen Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, although it was by no means her first role. Her first television commercial was aired when she was only 11 months old. Born into one of Hollywood’s legendary families, Barrymore’s success carries on the tradition of her Barrymore and Drew relatives, including Lionel, Ethel, and John Barrymore. As a teenager and young adult, Drew Barrymore had a bad-girl persona, inspired by her real problems with substance abuse and the types of parts she chose to play. Beginning in 1996, she reinvented her career, appearing in a series of romantic comedies, including The Wedding Singer, Never Been Kissed, and 50 First Dates, in which she often, in a rather complete turnaround, played shy, vulnerable roles. Barrymore also made forays into more dramatic roles, such as that of a teenage mother in a failed marriage in the 2001 film, Riding in Cars with Boys. Along the way, Barrymore formed a very successful production company, producing her Charlie’s Angels films, as well as other projects, including an updated version of Cinderella, Ever After. She currently stars with Hugh Grant in the film Music and Lyrics.

Drew Barrymore was recently chosen to represent Giles Deacon, a British designer. In a March 2007 interview with the British edition of Vogue, Deacon explained his reasons for choosing her: “She’s highly intelligent, a great businesswoman, and a role model, but she’s also someone that’s made mistakes in the past and come through and I think people respond to and respect that.”

Exploring her interest in documentary films, Barrymore has directed several projects that garnered critical attention. One project involved her working in and filming child-feeding programs throughout Africa over the course of more than a year. She became increasingly involved in the plight of hungry children and in the work of agencies and groups trying to address this problem. In recognition of her work in this area, in May 2007 the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) named Barrymore their Ambassador Against Hunger and challenged her to use her celebrity to advocate for school feeding projects. One of her first assignments was to attend meetings on Capitol Hill with U.S. senators to lobby on behalf of feeding programs.

From the June 2007 edition of eJournal USA.