Happier than ever!

Drew Barrymore: The girl from “E.T.” turns 50

Drew Barrymore celebrates her 50th birthday on Saturday. The former child star has been through many ups and downs in her career.

(Bild: Caitlin Ochs / REUTERS )

Almost at the same time as her 50th birthday on Saturday, Drew Barrymore is also celebrating half a century in the spotlight. She was just eleven months old when she appeared in front of the camera for a dog food commercial, at the age of three for her first TV film and at seven she became a global star as a cute girl with pigtails in the hit film "E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial".

What followed was a rollercoaster ride with deep and painful crashes, but also successful highs - and she is now really looking forward to turning 50, Barrymore said in a recent interview. "I'm excited, it can't come soon enough. I have no problems at all with getting older - I've never been happier in my life."

She wants to spend the day with friends and her two daughters Olive and Frankie, cooking together and listening to music. "It took me years to find my way and now I want to stay true to myself."

Drew Barrymore wants to celebrate her milestone birthday with her children.

(Bild: Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Steven Ferdman)

"Little Girl Lost"
The 40s have not been so easy for her, says Barrymore. The 2016 divorce from her third husband and father of her daughters, art dealer Will Kopelman, was particularly hard. "I thought nothing could be worse than what I went through as a child, but the divorce was so much worse. It just really shocked me and broke me as a person. I had two young children and didn't know what I wanted to do at work or in life. My dream family was falling apart and I didn't know how to put one foot in front of the other."

Born in California in 1975, Barrymore, who comes from a dynasty of actors, had already gone through some difficult phases as a child and teenager: alcohol, drugs, rehab, arguments with her parents and her first autobiography - "Little Girl Lost" - at the age of 15.

Drew Barrymore once became a star with the movie "E.T.".

(Bild: ullstein - Röhnert / Ullstein Bild)

Nevertheless, she is happy to have become an actress. "I always wanted to act. And I thank my mother, even though it ruined our relationship - I think we sacrificed being mother and daughter for this wild job."

A mixture of best friend and therapist
The salvation back then: Barrymore founded her own film company called Flower Films and produced successful films starring herself, such as "A Wedding to Fall in Love" (1998) and "Three Angels for Charlie" (2000). The company is still successful, but Barrymore is currently taking a break from acting for the sake of her daughters.

Instead, she has emerged from her recent crisis - and has been hosting her own talk show, named after her and produced by herself, since 2020 with the open manner for which she is famous, for whose mainly female audience she is like a mixture of best friend and therapist.

Enjoys "beehive full of women"
There may be room for a man in her life again at some point, says Barrymore. At the moment, however, she is content in her "beehive of women" - and is looking forward to the second half of her life. "I'd like to live the second half of my life like the B-side of the record and not exactly like the A-side."