Drew Barrymore graces the cover of ELLE Magazines May 2009 issue, styled by Joe Zee and shot by Alexei Hay.
As part of Hollywood Royalty, Drew has had her share of ups and downs in the entertainment industry but today her career makes other envious. Photos inside ELLE Magazine make Drew look like an underwater angle but it’s the interview with the actress that reminds you that this angle is heaven sent. She opens up about her career, sacrificing her life for a role, and her relationships.
On her breakup from boyfriend Fabrizio Moretti: “It’s hard to be with someone for five years and say, This isn’t going to work. But it was a time in my life where I finally just said, I can’t live for anyone else anymore. I have to be on my own.”
On the Hollywood career she would like to try: “I’m in my thirties now, and I really want to try all the things that I haven’t gotten to do yet, like directing, and doing a drama. I’ve produced and gotten to do a lot of optimistic love stories, and that was so where I was at for 10 years in my life. And now I feel like, Okay, now I know how to do that. I wanted to get scared again.”
Drew recently threw herself into the role of Little Edie for the film Grey Gardens, going to extreme lengths like shutting herself off from the world- all to prove to the director, who preferred other actresses for the role, that she was the right pick.
On getting the role and transforming into the character
“I knew this was not a courtesy meeting, but not far from it. I didn’t want to come in there like a hungry freak. But I also felt every second counting. So – polite conversation, then he started looking through my binder, and I saw his demeanor change, actually noticing all the hard work I had put into it. So I just put it out there. I said, ‘Look – I have all of this inside of me, and I promise you that I will change my face to be her. I will learn how to stop talking out of the side of my mouth. I will go to school to relearn body language. I will shut out the world. I will not talk to my friends. I will give up my life for this, because I don’t think you can play this character and have a social life and balance the two mentalities. I won’t act. I’ll become this person.’”
“I did what I do when I have a big challenge lying in my path. I go to school. I shut the windows, the shades come down, the phone gets turned off, I don’t go out – I study.”
To see photos from the cover shoot click here