Drew Barrymore Talks 'New Direction' After Will Kopelman Split: 'You Put One Foot in Front of the Other'
Drew Barrymore was apparently leaning on her friends for advice and support before announcing her split from husband Will Kopelman.
In what appears to be her first interview since the couple announced their plans to divorce, Barrymore told PopSugar that she turned to a wise and trusted confidante during a difficult time this year, although she never directly reference the split in her interview.
“I had a really hard time a couple of months ago and kind of knew life was heading in a new direction,” the actress told the website at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival this weekend. “I called someone that I really trust, respect, and believe in, because he has always been the conductor of grace. I said, ‘What’s your advice?’ And he said, ‘You put one foot in front of the other.’ I hung up the phone and I thought, 'That is why I call this person.’ ”
Barrymore called the advice “succinct,” “physically productive and life-choice productive.”
“It’s a kind of way in which to live, and I want to be like him. I want to be like that. I want to put one foot in front of the other,” she concluded.
Kopelman and Barrymore were married for almost four years and share two daughters – Olive, 3, and Frankie, 23 months. A source told PEOPLE that the couple were having “marriage issues for a while” and fought over where to make their homestead. (Kopelman’s family lives in New York City while Barrymore grew up in California – the couple has homes on both coasts.)
When they officially confirmed their divorce in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, Barrymore and Kopelman asserted that their daughters would be the main focus and that while the family is “separating legally,” they “do not feel this takes away from us being a family.”
Of her older child Olive, Barrymore told PopSugar, “she doesn’t want the worry. She needs to know it’s going to be OK.”
“It’s the only way she will allow herself to be vulnerable. She’s mad when something hurts her. She doesn’t go to a weak place,” Barrymore said. “Every little girl can only be made to feel safe if they know the parent is solid.” According to interviewer Anna Monette Roberts, this is when Barrymore paused and her “eyes began to water.”
The Wildflower author said that, at this point in her life, the “only thing” she cares about are her girls.
“My life’s mission and the only thing that matters as of now is that my daughters know what our lives were like, how we lived, and how much I love them,” she told PopSugar. “For them to know that they were not just loved, but, like, ridiculously, utterly, life-alteringly loved. That’s the only reason I’m here now!”
Barrymore was all smiles at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival on Saturday, one of her first public appearances after the announcement, where she was debuting Barrymore Wines’ new rosé. An observer told PEOPLE that the actress was pouring wines from her label and giving everyone hugs.
