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At 34, most people in show business are just beginning to make their mark and prove their staying power. For Drew Barrymore, 34 means her third decade in the business. Although she did her first minor TV appearances at 3 and 5, and her first film was Ken Russell’s whacked out Altered States in 1980, Barrymore first captured moviegoers at the tender age of 7 when she melted hearts with her tear-inducing performance in Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Flash forward 27 years, and you’ll find an accomplished actress, producer and now director.

For her directorial debut, Whip It, Barrymore enlisted an all-star cast to flesh out her longtime dream of stepping behind the camera, including Juno’s Ellen Page, Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, “Saturday Night Live”’s Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Eve and Andrew Wilson.

Based on the book by Austinite and UT Film School alum Shauna Cross, the film follows Bliss Cavendar (Page), a misplaced waitress of the Oink Joint in Bodeen, Texas, who struggles through every Miss Bluebonnet pageant for her pageant-obsessed mom (Harden). She finally finds her calling in Austin when her and her best friend sneak out to catch a roller derby match. Eventually joining the Hurl Scouts, Cavendar becomes known as Babe Ruthless and enters a world of free-spirited women and fierce competition that begins to take the place of her dead end small town life.For the film, Barrymore grabbed Page, fresh off of the success of the Oscar-winning Juno. She says of her starlet, “I’m so honored. I needed a hero to tell this story—someone who you could really get behind. She’s a phenomenal human being, a truly talented actress—just that and so much more.”

Another character in the story is the setting itself—Austin. Although it was the original setting in the script, it was the obvious choice for Barrymore, a huge fan of the capital city.

Barrymore says, “It’s one of my favorite cities in the whole world. I think it’s an amazing, authentic, eclectic city, and I wanted to shoot the landmarks that go along with the characters in the film, like the Daniel Johnston mural, the Alamo Drafthouse, Waterloo and South Congress, rather than just drive by the capital and go, ‘We’re here in Austin!’ I tried to show the city from the perspective of certain people who really live and hang out around there. My character, Smashley Simpson, works at Whole Foods, so I was giving a shout out to the flagship store that I love so much. I just love Austin.”

Although Whip It was an easy choice for a directorial debut for her, Barrymore still wanted to make sure she made a mark with this film. After working with the likes of masters Spielberg, Woody Allen and Wes Craven, as well as working with actors-turned-directors George Clooney, Penny Marshall and Danny DeVito, Barrymore felt she was finally ready to make her mentors proud.

“I knew as a producer what filmmaking entailed, so I was all about being super prepared, super buttoned-up, storyboarded, shot listed, dotting every ‘i’ and crossing every ‘t’ from casting, set design, cinematography—all of that matters so much to me,” Barrymore says. “I loved the music part as well, but storytelling was the most important aspect, so I worked with the writer for a year on the script trying to inject as much of my own heart and personal experience. I wanted to make something that was fun and funny for people, so I found the perfect venue in this film.”

And going to some of her previous directors for advice was no problem for her, especially Spielberg, who is her godfather, after all.

She offers, “I love to collaborate with people and get their notes and advice on things. You’re always open and excited—at least I am—to a fresh idea or to have people collectively say, ‘I’m not so into that’ or ‘Don’t lose sight of that; that’s working.’ No matter what, you have to be in tune with your own gut instinct because you have to make a film that’s coming from you, and you have to be responsible for every element, and everything in this film is basically my fault, so if there’s things they didn’t like, I’m responsible for it. If there are things they like about it—phew—because I cared about every detail.”

Her passion and commitment to film is not a surprise; hell, it’s in her blood. Coming from a lineage of cinematic royalty that has included John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, she survived a troubled adolescence that included emancipation, drug addiction and a series of struggles that she shone through. Barrymore nailed a string of ’90s hits that showed her as sexy [Poison Ivy], wild [Boys on the Side], funny [The Wedding Singer], whimsical [Ever After] and lovable [Never Been Kissed]. This decade, she has produced under Flower Films [Charlie’s Angels, Fever Pitch], executive produced [Donnie Darko, He’s Just Not That Into You] and now had the chance to sit behind the coveted director’s chair.

Always a crowd pleaser, Barrymore has won the awards voted by the people: a Saturn Award, MTV Movie Award, People’s Choice Award and Blockbuster Entertainment Award. Not one to let her fans down, she’s proud to finally see this one getting the positive response she dreamed of.

She smiles and says, “I’m thrilled that people are liking it, because I wanted to make something that was enjoyable, emotionally resonant and funny, and there’s a message that’s important to me—to be your own hero. You have to be proud of who you are in the world and find people that accept you and empower you. The struggles that families go through as well are a few things I wanted to explore. I hope some people leave the theater with some thoughtfulness but still having had a good time.”

With each decade getting more and more interesting for her, Barrymore has a lot to look forward to. With a full plate of films scheduled for release in the next year, it may not be long before we hear that she’s stepping behind the camera again. And even with three decades behind her, there’s still much more to come.

Source: Envy Mag