Drew Barrymore: Firestarter
Drew Barrymore is remembering her Firestarter face, the expression she'd make when she was about to set things ablaze in the 1984 Stephen King classic. "I always said, 'Back off. Back off. Just back off, and don't make me angry.' Then I would clench my fists and scrunch my face a little bit and breathe rapidly, focus my eyes on something, and then blow it up." She adds wryly, "And although I'm such a peacekeeping hippie, I wish I had that power every once in a while. I totally wish I could blow some stuff up with my eyes."
After her 36 years in the public eye-her story is so storied, it doesn't bear repeating-Barrymore's power is assured. While she characterizes her "heat" these days as more of a "simmer," she's happy to walk down a fiery memory lane. One may recall a picture of a baby Barrymore, in a puff-sleeved party frock, lighting King's cigarette at the film's premiere. "People were like, 'Oh, that would be funny.' I don't even know if he was a smoker or not." Pause. "Somehow when you have a young girl, things are sort of excused. … But I think it's even cooler now. It's such an awesome picture."
"I totally wish I could blow some stuff up with my eyes."
During filming, "Stephen would come around. And I got to be in his office, that famous attic he writes in that's on the cover of his book On Writing. It was just a very cool time, and not in Hollywood."
Barrymore is also having a very cool time not in Hollywood. The mother of two young daughters-Olive, three, and Frankie, almost two-with her husband, art consultant Will Kopelman, she lives on two coasts, in Los Angeles and on Manhattan's Upper East Side. She divides her time between raising her girls and blossoming her nascent businesses, Flower Beauty and Barrymore Wines. Flower, originally a film-production company, is now an empire that has grown with the 2013 launch of makeup and, most recently, eyewear.
Givenchy Haute Couture by Riccardo Tisci dress and belt, givenchy.com; Chanel Fine Jewelry earrings and cuffs, chanel.com; Quidam de Revel Collection necklace; On left hand: Chanel Fine Jewelry necklace and earrings, chanel.com; Quidam de Revel Collection earrings; On right hand: Chanel Fine Jewelry necklace and cuff, chanel.com.
"I don't think I'm hot right now necessarily, because I have all my irons in a bunch of different fires," Barrymore says, amused at the heavy-handedness of the metaphor. "I'm writing. I'm doing makeup. I'm doing design. I'm expanding Flower into different categories." She adds, "I think it's a huge mistake to think you have to burn bright for your whole life. You cannot sustain it. It's exhausting, and it's not very realistic."
Barrymore, 41, describes her typical day thus: "Well, I have one of two days. One is really with my kids. Wake up, breakfast, activities, naps, activities, bath, and bed. Same as every parent-trying to make life fun for them, exhaust them, love them, feed them, be affectionate, be silly, and just be present. And drink a lot of caffeine." (Tejava iced tea, by the way, extra large, which, after years of knowing Barrymore, I am yet to see her without.) "Another day could be in a lab or on a plane for a two-day jaunt on a business trip." Like this cover shoot, for which we hurtled to Paris on a red-eye, then went straight to set. (Here, champagne was the new tea.) "My days are rarely mixed together," she says. "I probably subconsciously do that so I can maximize my time with my kids."
"Hot is a state of mind. It's an energy. You're hot when you're motivated."
Barrymore has experienced Hollywood heat in all its iterations. "It's been at different intervals: E.T. was a really exciting time; when I was doing The Wedding Singer and starting Flower Films; making Never Been Kissed and Charlie's Angels; when I directed Whip It and did Grey Gardens in the same year. Those were times when I really pushed myself and I didn't care about my sleep, my health. I didn't have relationships or children that would be a priority over my work."
Today, of course, that time is in the rearview mirror. "Hot is a state of mind," she reflects. "It's an energy. You're hot when you're motivated. It means you want it and you're going after it." For Barrymore, "hot isn't about being on the A-list or having a hot body. It's literally people who are on fire. Like Lena Dunham is on fire. Amy Schumer. Louis C.K. I think their brands of comedy and observational life stuff are some of the coolest I've seen in so many years."
Valentino dress, valentino.com; Chanel Fine Jewelry earrings and cuff, chanel.com.
These days, Barrymore is more of a viewer than a participant in the movie business. "If I was obsessed with the world of film the way I used to be-and may one day be again-I would love to remake Firestarter. It's such a cool concept. Ooh, and with the special effects now, you could do so much! It would be emotional and interesting because it'd all be together in this little girl." Like Olive and Frankie? Wouldn't they just be too adorable, lighting Stephen King's cigarettes at parties? Barrymore lets out a dry-humored sigh. "Um, no."
Hair: Oliver Schawalder; Makeup: Tom Pecheux; Manicure: Christina Conrad for M.A.C. Cosmetics; Production: Virginie Laguens for Belleville Hills; Digital Composition: Helene Chauvet.
The March 2016 issue of Harper's BAZAAR is available on newsstands February 16.
See a behind-the-scenes look at the cover shoot below:
