Drew Barrymore says she stopped drinking to break the cycle of alcohol abuse in her famous family: ‘We have all been such hedonists’

Drew Barrymore revealed that her sobriety is one of the things she is most proud of.

The 49-year-old actress reflected in a new interview on her choice to quit drinking five years ago and why she wanted to “break” the cycle of alcohol abuse in her famous family. People.

“I think for me, giving up drinking is one of the most honorable things I can do to the Barrymore name because we’ve all been such bon vivants,” she said.

“It’s just like, you know what? This wasn’t working for our family, and I’m going to put an end to it,” the Charlie’s Angels star explained of her decision.

“I will be the one to break the link in that chain and maybe my children and their children will be better off for it.”

Drew’s family has a long history of struggles with alcohol.

Her father, actor John Drew Barrymore, battled alcoholism, her actress aunt Diana, confessed to drug and alcohol use in her biography Too Much, Too Soon, and her grandfather John Barrymore, a Shakespearean actor famous in the 1920s and 1930s , drank himself to death. .

“We have to fight the genetic follies that our families bring us,” Drew explained.

Although she also warned, “Don’t think of me as the pillar of health and wellness and having everything in order.”

The actress has now been sober for about five years, after quitting drinking sometime in 2019.

Last year, she candidly discussed how tough a year that turned out to be for her during an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show: “Yes, that was a very, very difficult year. It was actually the year I stopped drinking. Just because you stop drinking doesn’t make all your problems go away. There’s a lot of work to do.’

‘It’s a way to honor yourself, be consistent and leave room for other things. Doesn’t it seem like the greatest first step is realizing, not denying, listening to the thing.’

Drew went on to tell the audience that alcohol had been the biggest problem in her life.

‘Alcohol was a poison to me and I went there because I didn’t want to feel. I felt better when I drank, so I went there,” she explained.

Drew recently admitted that she is not ashamed that she has become a “cautionary tale” for parents after coming forward with her struggles with substance abuse at the age of 13.

Reflecting on her time in a family treatment center as a young teen, the talk show host said she was proud to have shared her story in 1989.

Reflecting on one of her previous covers for People, in which she spoke candidly about starting drinking at age nine and using cocaine at age 12, the mother of two said the interview was “very empowering.”

‘When I look at it now, I don’t see any sadness or tragedy. “I love that I was a walking cautionary tale,” she said.

The actress explained that her story influenced parenting and made people wonder how to protect their child and the importance of boundaries.

“I actually feel like this gives me such a nice little badge of merit, like the honor of a scout to be able to participate in that conversation and know for myself how to handle that as a parent,” Barrymore reflected.

Now the Golden Globe nominee, mother of two daughters Olive, 11, and Frankie, 10, has stated that looking back is an “extremely positive” experience because she no longer feels “lost.”

She also admitted that divorcing her third husband, Will Kopelman, was much more challenging.

“This makes me laugh because if you thought this was a low point, no,” she explained. ‘Divorce with two children was a much more difficult moment for me because it suddenly didn’t go away [me]it was over [my kids].’

The California native continued, “Whatever you think your lowest point or your hardest moment will be, it may not be,” she told readers. “Maybe there’s another one further down and it’ll be all right. You’ll get through it, maybe you won’t do it alone.’

Barrymore also pointed out that no one in the world has ever “hit rock bottom, done something bad, learned a hard lesson, or been ashamed.”

“We all go through so many tender and difficult things in life, and if we can be transparent about that — I know that when someone shares their story, it makes me feel so much less alone,” she said.

When asked what advice she would give her younger self, the performer admitted that she knows her younger self “wouldn’t have listened!”

“I was very stubborn and rebellious, so not only did I not listen to advice, no matter what advice I was given, I actually did the opposite,” she mused.

However, she is keen to say that she has become a ‘good mother’ and really cares about her children.

“I’ve really taken care of myself, so I’m not mad at my mom or dad. I was more disappointed in my own parenting,” Barrymore noted. ‘I think children should really feel safe.’

When asked if she would feel comfortable with her girls taking up acting, the star said her daughters ask “all the time” about joining the family business.

“They would love to act or sing in movies or on social media,” she said. ‘And I always just say, ‘School plays, theater camp, everything, [yes]. But [no to] being in the public eye.”

She said the girls always pressure her to know how long they should wait before venturing into the entertainment industry.

When other people asked him about the possibility of her girls entering the business, Barrymore said “it always made me feel so sad” because the industry is “so toxic.”

Still, she acknowledged that the company gave her “every opportunity under the sun” and that she “couldn’t appreciate her life anymore.”

“As a parent, I would love to support my children when they are older,” she said. “Again, what number is that? I don’t know, but it’s not 13 and probably not 14 either.’