Drew Barrymore covers the upcoming edition of Good Housekeeping in a kind of floral crown. It’s a cheeky nod to her Flower Beauty line and she somehow skirts the line between wacky cute and ridiculous. The Good Housekeeping profile was done before Drew announced her split with husband Will Kopelman after three years of marriage. Her comments are pretty telling and hint at issues she’s having at home, particularly when she talks about what a supportive friend Cameron Diaz has been to her over the years. The article is worth reading for the context – Drew is effusive and friendly to everyone at her Flower Beauty office, she hugs people a lot and she gets emotional at some points. Here’s some of what she told Good Housekeeping.
On her friendship with Cameron Diaz
If you are in scary prison in the middle of nowhere, call Cameron. She’ll get you out. If you’re looking for the best dinner-cooking partner and watching-TV-on-the-couch friend, call her. If someone is in a medical situation, call her! She’s the most loyal, fierce, fun, cozy friend. We have incredible honesty with each other, and we work hard on our lives and our friendship. My girlfriends are my first family, and they know that I would lie down and die for them. My love for them is unbreakable.On marrying Will
I don’t think there was one moment when I knew I wanted to spend my life with Will. It was a sweeping, fluid process. It was falling in love with his family, being ready to have a family of my own and thinking if I had a family with this family, it would be really wonderful. Sometimes there’s just a time to go for it with a good person.She was asked what she loves most about Will and named her daughters
I thought I knew what love was, but holy cow, I did not. I could never have imagined the kind of love I have for my children. I am who I am because of my daughters.On her parenting style
I’m an overachiever parent, and not because I think I’m going to repeat the patterns of my parents. That’s not my fear — I’ve already broken that pattern in my life. But having grown up in the opposite way, I’m raising my children with all consistency, all protection. This is my chance to get it right. I’d never let them become child actors. They’ll have a chastity belt, a tracker system, no cell phones and we’ll live in the middle of nowhere. In reality, I’ll just lead by example by being spirited, classy, consistent, philanthropic, hardworking, loyal to my friends and there any second they might need me.On her figure
I’d love to have six-pack abs, but I’m genetically predisposed to having Pillsbury Doughboy abs. Six-pack abs are not a priority for me, because that takes a lot of time.On her wine line
Wine is such a beautiful thing with friends at dinner. Or … at lunch.
Read the sections about Cameron Diaz and about Drew’s parenting style. She claims she wants to live in the middle of nowhere with her daughters (she currently lives in Montecito, which is near Santa Barbara and about a two hour drive from Los Angeles). She also calls Cameron the person to call “If you are in scary prison in the middle of nowhere.” Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but those two statements seem related, like Cameron saved her when her marriage was breaking down. She also talks about Will as if she chose him for stability, not because she was particularly falling for him, which is consistent with all the insider quotes we’ve heard about their divorce.
Also, I worry about Drew a little bit. It seems like she’s talking too much and needs to tamp it down. She’s promoting her wine and makeup lines though and it’s like she can’t help but be disarmingly honest. She’s not dishing the dirt, but it sounds like she’s revealing more than she should.
Here’s Drew out to lunch last week, April 9, with a “mystery friend.” (That’s what the photo agency calls him.) For what it’s worth, she’s still wearing her wedding ring. Credit: FameFlynet. Good Housekeeping photos credit: Brian Bowen Smith
If you weren’t sure you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him, why get married again? You’re not a green girl to be swept along on a fluid process. Whatever that means.
I think you’re lovely Drew and wish you well, but stop talking already.
Least said, soonest mended.
The more she talks the more I feel for Will.
Yup.
He and the girls. Because this will affect them.
Drew is consistent alright. Consistently flighty.
because she got a divorce she’s flighty? ok.
@Brin – Me too
She’s not flighty for getting “a” divorce; she’s flighty for getting three of them.
Three marriages, the first two being for less than six months each (I think it was more like six months total for both). Then two kids and three years and then it’s just not your thing.
That equals “flighty” in my book.
I think she wanted a family and thought he’d be a good father. And that seems to be pretty much it. Good reason to get married in the 19th century, not so much for a rich woman with a career or her own today.
Maybe he was the one pushing to get married and because she loved him, she did it. Whatever it is, I’m sure she didn’t go into it thinking she would get divorced again.
I think you’re being a bit hard on her. It sounds to me like she went into the marriage with the best of intentions, but sometimes things don’t work out. He is different from the other partners she has had, I’m sure she thought this relationship would be different. I feel for both of them. It’s sad.
I think Drew was attracted to the stability Will brought to the table, and that she was trying really hard to convince herself that she wanted that kind of lifestyle. But in the end, I think Drew is a free spirit and not someone who is going to be in a long-term marriage/relationship. I think she needs to accept that, stop getting married and just live her life.
I agree. She grew up in chaos and was attracked to solid, stable and loving family and wanted that for her kids. It’s telling that she says she fell in love with his family. The problem is that despite wanting to be part of that, it isn’t really who she is herself. I think she is drawn to the stability but is more of a free spirit and spontaneous herself. I think that is a conflict that she has to resolve. Maybe now that she has children, she’ll find someone next time that fits her true self better. And she doesn’t need to marry him.
I don’t know that she was necessarily attracted the Will’s steadiness and family for herself, but for her children.
She wanted kids, and knew a stable partner could provide that stability for her children. He probably knew who he was marrying, and understood what his role would be after a split if it occurred. I think she made a conscious decision about the father (and his family) of her kids so they could have the best of both worlds – her free spirit and Will’s stability.
I think Drew is someone who shouldn’t get married. I don’t think it’s for her and there’s nothing wrong with that. If I were her, I’d focus on the kids and my career.
People have married for less and for much worse reasons. Guy from a stable family seems like a reasonable thing when you wish to emulate the same.
Particularly when you’re ready to start a family.
Yup! Sadly, it’s true.
Yeah.
Good point. That’s not a flighty reason to get married at all. Maybe she thought he was her best chance at a lifelong mate but sadly it was not to be. He was a nice guy, also rich and handsome which probably didn’t hurt. But at least her kids have a great dad and family in the end which is more than many have.
I’m reading her book Wildflower and she comes across very likable and self-aware. For someone to come from a deranged background and childhood like Drew did and get her adult life on track is no mean feat. She could have ended up in Lohan-land.
That cover picture is cute.
I agree. And while I have very little respect for Ben Affleck for obvious reasons (and I am not for one second comparing Drew to him!) the one thing I didn’t see as bad was his consistently complimenting his wife on her good nature, kindness, and excellence as a mother.
Nora Ephron said you should never marry someone you wouldn’t like to be divorced from. I’d add, never have kids with someone you wouldn’t like as your own parent. Drew seems to have picked well on that score. And as you say, for someone whose childhood was worse than Lohan’s, that’s a big deal.
On one end we can complain about celebs being robots with their talking points and now we are saying that one is talking too much. Drew has always been chatty in interviews, why should that change.
this.
I like her very much but I’m tired of hearing about her divorce.
I love Drew, but I can’t help but feel bad for her soon to be X husband!! They were always so private and now their personal business is EVERYWHERE.
On the one hand, she seems like the kind of person who would be able to pull of a Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell kind of relationship- no marriage necessary, but a stronger than steel equal partnership that is completely grounded and fluid all at the same time. But on the other, there is just something about Drew that will never be 100 percent stable. She gets bored and she bolts. She has been with every kind of man alive so I cannot imagine who could keep her attention longer than say, seven years.
Drew has no filters and that can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand it’s delightful to be with someone you KNOW won’t blow smoke up your a$$ but on the other, TMI Drew!!! It’s OK to filter stuff for public consumption, and even just not talk about it as it’s too personal.
@Aims – I totally agree that Drew isn’t the marrying kind, she’s way too much of a free spirit and that’s OK, but there’s certainly a ‘square peg in a round hole’ dynamic about her marriage to Will. I never married – lived together without benefit of matrimony – and never had kids because quite honestly I just didn’t have the urge. So I listened to that urge when I got proposed to and my gut said “whoa there Jaded, do you really want this?” I do think they will be great parents and make the transition as easy as possible for their daughters.
The more I hear, the more heartbreaking I find it all. I feel for Will. Even when describing why she married him – it was a case of ‘oh his family’ not ‘oh he was amazing’.
I think Drew gets a lot of passes because she had such a miserable childhood. And for a certain amount of things – sure. She can get passes. But if this was the kind of crap that nearly any other actress said – there’d be a lot more outrage.
The issue is that she’s an adult now. She used Will as a prop in her game of house, and I genuinely worry about her daughters. I’m not saying Drew would ever want to do anything damaging to them – but there’s something about the flighty, carefree attitude that could really affect these girls. Is it going to be a case of “well, mom was supposed to be there for x but she decided to go on a weekend away last night”. I don’t think she has it in her to be consistent, and 100% present. She couldn’t see their father as much more than a means to an end – no matter how much she loves those girls, it’s interviews like this that are going to sting. I think she genuinely has good intentions as a mom – but we will see. Hopefully everything will work out fine, and hopefully the girls will have a consistent, stable relationship with their dad.
To be fair, Will spoke about Drew the same way that she speaks about him. I read a quote where he said there wasn’t one particular moment where he knew she was the one. He said that they were friends for years, and he saw how well she interacted with his nephew, so he decided that she’d be a good person to marry.
Everyone assumes that Drew was the one who wanted out, leaving Will devastated. It’s possible that the split was mutual. It sounds like they were two friends who were both pushing 40, and were ready to start a family. So they just decided to go for it. It’s sad that the marriage didn’t work but at least they both seem committed to compare ting their children.I read that Drew is guest starring on Will’s sister show, so it sounds like things are amicable.
Goldie, great comment! Two thumbs up 🙂
* meant to say they both seem committed to co-parenting their children.
@jsilly thanks! 😀
Yeah, that’s my impression as well. And it’s not a crazy thing to do- I think there are a fair number of people who get to that age where they really want kids and so they stop looking for true love and start looking for someone who would be a good parent. Certainly Drew could have chosen to have a baby on her own, but by her own admission she wanted her children to have a family. On her own they just have her, with Will they have a dad, grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins… They get that loving family Drew wanted for them.
That it didn’t work out isn’t surprising, but I can’t knock either of them for trying it.
She thought it was right at the time. It happens.
She’s loving all this attention. Drew is reinventing herself…again
I feel sad for her because she can’t seem to see who she really is. She’s totally a Goldie Hawn type & the sooner she realizes that, the happier she, & all in her life, will be.
Talking about loving his family but not specifically him, ugh that is a devastating thing to say publicly. What a kick in the guts for the classy & stable man Will seems to be. Despite that, I hope his family do keep her close because I think she needs it & her kids need their village too…
for all her wacky back story and quirky schtick, she’s not very interesting
I’ve always had a soft spot for Drew, I worry about her. Doesn’t she have a long history of drug & alcohol abuse? Why on earth is she promoting a wine label, and talking about drinking at lunch and dinner? I know some people who have abused alcohol can get to a place where they can enjoy it in moderation, but my impression of what science says is that addicts really need to be sober. I think a lot of Hollywood types are functioning alcoholics, drink way too much every day but know enough not to get sloppy (or their publicists make sure it’s kept under wraps as best as they can). Think Heather Locklear, Stephanie Seymour, etc.
Not a long history of drink/drugs at all – she went to rehab at 14, got herself straightened out after a few years of therapy and hasn’t relapsed.
Again she reminds me of myself. I’m just naturally insanely frank and can’t help but gush my thoughts on any given topic. It’s actually somewhat disarming to be such a ‘tell it like it is’ kind of person bc you naturally assume that everyone else is the same way and then you say something ridiculously frank and everyone looks at you like you have a second head.
In fairness she was probably giving these interviews knowing her marriage was done. I’d be hard pressed to say something nice about certain exes in the midst of the break up.
I’ve always rooted for Drew, but honestly, the more she talks and the more I hear coming directly from her lips, the less I think of her. She isn’t very sharp and she seems to be becoming less and less classy, which is ironic becuase she seems to think she is classy and plans to model that for her daughters….so clueless, it’s almost kind of cute. I don’t care for her gushing about his family more than she gushed about him directly. Sounds like her biological clock was ticking and he happened to be the best option available at the time…yikes. She would do well to avoid interviews for a while and work with someone who can help her better learn what needs more filtering. I’m sure Cameron has been a good friend to her. They’ve been close for decades, but I see why they are such good friends and so compatable. They’re both ditzy as heck, but Drew is charmingly so, while Cameron’s ditz grates the nerves.
I feel much the same way at this point. She’s putting a lot of effort into this promotional blitz, when it might be time better served trying to figure out her life at 40.
I still suspect a mid-life crisis / turning 40 is some part of this (however small a slice).