Drew Barrymore's Full Gorgeous Transformation

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Drew Barrymore is a hugely successful actor, talk show host, and mom of two. But while her bubbly, happy-go-lucky persona makes it seem like her life has always been a breeze, it doesn't take much digging to discover things haven't always been smooth sailing. "I started [in this industry] when I was in diapers. At 13, it was that sad sob story. And then I picked myself back up. I've been married, I've gotten divorced, I've raised myself, for better or worse. And it has all been out there," she told People. She's also been open about how she feels about her past wild behavior, like flashing David Letterman on TV in 1995. "I'm such a different person now that it doesn't feel like me, but I'm still into it. You only have one life!" she said.

Over the years, though, Barrymore has learned it's a privilege to evolve. "It's not about aging, it's about how I am on the inside," she told New Beauty. "If we're lucky, we are all going to age." And all her unique life experiences, both good and bad, have made for a truly gorgeous transformation that's beyond skin deep.

Drew Barrymore was born in California in 1975. She told Rolling Stone that she was bullied at school and, at age 6, was pushed by a classmate. "I had asked [my mom] not to do anything because she's so f**king volatile that she'll do anything. But when [the bully] laughed, my mother grabbed him by the collar and said, 'If you ever f**k with my child again, I'll cut your f**king d**k off,'" she recalled. Barrymore admitted to Interview that she attended around 23 schools as a youngster, but never truly applied herself because she didn't get along with her teachers. 

Her relationship with her dad, John Barrymore Jr., was just as erratic. Barrymore told Rolling Stone he was abusive and was addicted to drugs and alcohol. "It was hard for me to deal with [while] growing up. It was chaotic and violent and scary," she said, recalling a harrowing incident when she was 7 and threw a chair at him. The two didn't speak again for seven years.

Her life also changed forever when she was 7. She appeared in the 1982 Steven Spielberg directed movie "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," which made her a huge star. Barrymore confirmed in a 1983 interview with NBC News that she got the role after auditioning for "Poltergeist" (another Spielberg project). The youngster was soon rubbing shoulders with major stars. She met King Charles and the late Princess Diana while promoting the movie in the U.K. and attended the 1983 Oscars. She continued acting amid her major newfound fame, appearing in 1984's "Firestarter" and "Irreconcilable Differences."

As a young teenager, Drew Barrymore and her mom regularly visited New York's notorious Studio 54 nightclub. Barrymore admitted in her book "Wildflower" that she'd often party there instead of going to school. "So wrong, but so fun," she wrote (via The Guardian). But at 13, she was admitted to a mental health institution for a year and a half. "I was a real wild child and I just got so out of control that no one knew what to do with me," she recalled on "The Drew Barrymore Show." "It was a really rebellious time. I would run off. I was very, very angry," she told The Guardian. The actor shared that she learned how to release her anger, but, sadly, her tough teens didn't end when she left the facility.

Aged 14, at the suggestion of the facility's experts, Barrymore became emancipated. "It was a very important thing to experience for me. It was very humbling, very quieting. Maybe it was necessary, because I came out of there a more respecting person. And my parents didn't teach me that, and life wasn't teaching me that. I came out in a very different way... but I still was me," she said. 

Barrymore got her own apartment, dropped out of school, and worked in an L.A. coffee shop. However, her teenage years took an even darker turn when she attempted suicide at 14. "I didn't really want to die. At least I didn't want to disappear permanently. I made a conscious decision that I really wanted to live," she told Rolling Stone.

Despite her immensely difficult personal life, Drew Barrymore returned to acting. She appeared in a supporting role in the 1989 movie "See You In The Morning" and landed several other smaller roles throughout the '90s, including in '96's "Scream." The star also documented her tough first few years of life in her first book, "Little Girl Lost," published in 1991.

Barrymore's love life had become as busy as her career. She got engaged to Leland Hayward in 1991, when she was just 16. After they split, she became engaged again at 17, this time to Jamie Walters. These romances did not lead to marriage. However, when she got together with Jeremy Thomas, despite their 10-year age gap (which is much larger than science's take on the best age gap for a successful relationship), they tied the knot in 1994 after dating for six weeks. The whirlwind romance became official during an impromptu past 5 a.m. ceremony at Thomas' bar, but didn't last long. They were married for just 19 days, and Barrymore made it clear how she felt about Thomas in her 1995 Rolling Stone interview. "My ex-husband ... Excuse me. The devil ...," she said.

Though her dating life was rocky, the star was making a name for herself in the fashion world. Barrymore was a '90s indie sleaze queen, complementing her style with her enviable confidence. "I'm so comfortable in my skin. If you ever are lucky enough to get to that place in your life–and I had to go through tons and tons of (expletive) to get there–you have to take advantage of it," she told the Los Angeles Times in 1995.

Drew Barrymore was still grappling with growing up as a child star in 1995. "I'm an adult, and I'm a child. They go in and out. I get to be a kid now because I wasn't a kid when I was supposed to be one. But in some ways, I'm an old woman – lived it, seen it, done it, been there, have the T-shirt," she told Rolling Stone. The star also elaborated on her complicated relationship with her mom, sharing they were no longer on speaking terms. Of her parents, she said, "... both of them were not capable of having a relationship with another person. It really f**ked up my ideas of what love was supposed to be."

Barrymore, who had taken a stunning leap from long hair to short, was also making major career moves — and not just as an actor. She co-founded Flower Films, a production company, alongside producer Nancy Juvonen. The company had a series of major box-office successes, including producing some of the biggest movies Barrymore starred in. Among them are "Never Been Kissed," "Charlie's Angels" (which featured Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz), and the rom-com "50 First Dates" with Adam Sandler.

Barrymore was also willing to give wedded bliss another shot. The A-Lister eloped with comedian Tom Green in March 2001 after around a year of dating. But that wasn't meant to be either. Although her second marriage lasted longer than her first, Green filed for divorce after just nine months.

After years as a successful actor, Drew Barrymore got behind the camera to direct the movie "Whip It." She also starred in it alongside Elliot Page and Kristen Wiig. Barrymore told Oprah.com she wanted to continue directing, despite finding the project tiring. In 2011, she directed the music video for Best Coast's track "Our Deal," which starred big names like Shailene Woodley and Chloë Grace Moretz.

Barrymore's style changed after she entered her 30s. She told People she didn't feel the most confident at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards because she didn't like the way her underarm looked in her nude gown. "Your body changes ... and we have to give ourselves grace for that. But I'm so glad I didn't let that little underarm butt stop me from wearing my favorite dress I've ever gotten to wear in my life," she said. Barrymore won that night, too, taking home the best actress in a TV movie or mini-series award for the TV movie "Grey Gardens."

The following year, she dyed her hair dark red, which represented a major life change as she began dating businessman Will Kopelman. "I felt like I was really trying to grow up, you know? I was, again, like thinking about settling down and having a family and your style just starts to change and reflect that," she explained.

Two thousand and twelve was a big year for Drew Barrymore. She married businessman Will Kopelman that summer while pregnant with their first child. "She's telling people that she's finally ready for a quieter, more family-oriented life," a source told People amid their nuptials. Six months later, their lives changed when she gave birth to their daughter, Olive. 

Two years later, Kopelman and Barrymore became parents again and welcomed a second daughter named Frankie. Barrymore chose to be more open about her second pregnancy, explaining on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that she felt confident in her body and wasn't caught up in superficial matters. "Listen, it takes nine months to make it, it takes nine months to unmake it," she said. "I don't ever pose, like, that 'I'm just so fabulous and I lose it like that.' I just, I want to enjoy the pasta right now. It's not like it's gonna look that much different. What's 10 pounds?"

Drew Barrymore's career took an unexpected new direction in 2012 when the "Miss You Already" actor once again moved behind the camera, this time as a photographer. The multi-talented celeb snapped the likes of "Victorious" star Victoria Justice and "The Hunger Games" actor Amandla Stenberg for a V magazine spread. She was also hired to shoot actor and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg in a campaign for the major fashion house Tommy Hilfiger.

The following year, Barrymore's passion for photography became even more prevalent when she released "Find It In Everything." The photo book contained snaps she'd taken over the course of a decade of everyday items shaped like hearts. "Hearts are my beacons. I love them man-made and natural, young and old," she told E! News, explaining she'd always gravitated toward the shape.

In 2016, Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman ended their marriage. Barrymore's three failed marriages changed her, and she shared how difficult she found divorcing the father of her children. Speaking candidly on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in 2021, she said, "I wasn't doing very well ... I needed help. So I started reaching out to different people and eventually I really made some big sweeping changes in my life and I got on a whole new track. Not back on track, but a whole new one that I helped build."

That involved an exciting new gig. In 2017, she swapped her actor-slash-director hat for an actor-slash-producer one when she became involved in the Netflix comedy series "Santa Clarita Diet." The star told Vanity Fair she thought twice about taking on the job at first, but admitted, "Sometimes, what seems like the worst timing ever in your life will ultimately pull you out of the worst devastation you've ever had."

Her style was influenced by the transformative time in her life, too. Prior to Barrymore's post-divorce glow-up, she told People she was struggling emotionally when she walked the red carpet for "Santa Clarita Diet" in 2018. The star wore a baggy, red jumpsuit, which felt simplistic and underthought compared to some of her other red carpet looks. But Barrymore was characteristically honest about not being in the right headspace to worry about fashion. "It's a good marker for we are not always fabulous on the red carpet. Sometimes our personal lives are falling apart, we're trying to make amends for something we think we did wrong and we're just trying to get through the day," she said.

Drew Barrymore made a major career change in 2019 when she landed her own CBS talk show, "The Drew Barrymore Show." The star's style underwent an obvious shift amid her new daytime TV gig. Barrymore began wearing more menswear-inspired looks thanks to the show's stylist, Lee Harris. "The set was very retro-Walter Cronkite, so it really lent itself to that kind of color palette of neutrals and earth tones and the menswear fabrics. I knew it was in Drew's wheelhouse and that she would like it," he told Whatever Nevermind. Harris also confirmed he and Barrymore made a conscious decision to re-wear garments to get the most mileage out of her wardrobe.

The daily show began after "Santa Clarita Diet" ended, and Barrymore took a step back from acting (particularly in movies). Instead, she shifted her focus toward selected, smaller roles and voice acting gigs. "It was a no brainer to me to put making movies on a back burner so that I could be present and raise my kids myself," she said on SiriusXM. "I didn't want to be on a film set asking the nanny how the kids were. I was like, that is not my journey," she added, though the star noted she may return to movies when she feels her daughters are old enough.

Just when it felt like Drew Barrymore had conquered every facet of the celebrity world, she added another string to her impressive career bow. In 2021, she launched her own magazine. "DREW," a quarterly print, focuses on beauty, health, and lifestyle. In a statement issued to ET, the multi-hyphenate said launching her own magazine had been a lifelong dream realized. That same year, she announced another exciting career move and launched her own Walmart kitchenware line titled Beautiful. The collection has since expanded to include everything from bed sheets (like the 100% Cotton Botanical 3-Piece Sage Green Comforter Set) to bathroom goods (such as the Oval Cotton Bath Rug) to furniture (like the Stowaway Coffee Table with Storage).

Barrymore also had some personal updates. She confirmed on "The Howard Stern Show" that year that she was back in touch with her mom. "I can't have her feel bad anymore. I'm sure she's already beat the crap out of herself for having a daughter that wouldn't speak to her," the actor said. She also admitted she harbored a lot of guilt over their rocky relationship. 

In 2022, Barrymore again proved why she's one of the most honest stars around when she gave a positive update on where she stood with Will Kopelman. "Our relationship has never been better," she said on "The Drew Barrymore Show." She also shared that she gets along with Kopelman's wife, Alexandra Michler, with whom he shares two children.

Drew Barrymore celebrated a major milestone in 2025 — her 50th birthday. The star told AARP she'd given up alcohol, dating, and acting amid the milestone (at least for a while). She also opened up about how the big birthday pushed her to be kinder to herself after years of putting herself down. Offering invaluable life advice to "The Drew Barrymore Show" viewers, she said, "There is something always good on the other side of fear. Life is delicious. There is good things. We can find strength to take on whatever it is that we do ... do what it takes to make yourself feel happy 'cause you deserve it." As for what made Barrymore happy? Her show. She proved that in 2026 when she signed on to host the series for at least two more years.

The actor and host also spoke candidly about how her priorities had changed amid her rollercoaster of a life transformation. "Time is the thing I have come to value so much. But I'm closer than I've ever been to realizing what a waste of my time it is to be in this much fear and worry and concern," she said on "The Drew Barrymore Show," revealing her 2026 self-improvement goal. "I don't know how much more time I have here on this planet ... I want to be afraid less and not waste my time on freaking out all the time," she added. Once again, Barrymore proved how self-aware she is while confirming there's truly no storm she can't weather.