Drew Barrymore thinks films have saved her life.
The 40-year-old actress – who was admitted to an institution for 18 months for drugs and alcohol addiction at just 13 years old – believes her career is the reason she’s still here today because it allowed her to escape her real existence.
She said: "I would never sh*t on the profession of acting. I think it’s wonderful. I think films saved my life. I mean, I come from a family that has done acting for 400 years. But for me, it was better than my circumstances."
The blonde beauty – who shot into the limelight at the age of seven when she was cast in ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ – doesn’t want her children Olive, three, and Frankie, 18 months, whom she has with her husband Will Kopelman, to follow in her footsteps and have a career in Hollywood.
She added: "For my children, it will not be better than their circumstances. They are going to be so safe and so loved that they won’t need a film set to make their life better."
Drew became emancipated at the age of 15 after her mother Jaid forced her into the institution, and she has admitted she knew from that day on that she would never adopt the parenting techniques her mum used on her as a child.
She told the Guardian’s Weekend magazine: "I knew I would not repeat the mistakes of my parents. I knew I would never do that to a kid. I wouldn’t not be there, or put them in too-adult circumstances. I knew I’d be very traditional, or I would not do it. I would never have had children unless I was incredibly stable and willing to put them first."
Drew Barrymore: Films saved my life
