Why Drew Barrymore is the most underrated celebrity

Drew Barrymore. Not a name you hear all that often, is it? Well I’m here to tell you that’s a ruddy outrage and needs to change immediately.

I’m just going to put something down and you might not want to pick it up, but Drew Barrymore is the most underrated celebrity. There I said it. I can’t take it back, and you probably want to see my receipts.

This week reignited a deep churning in my heart for the star that, as far as I can see, was shared good and hard with other punters as Drew celebrated her 46th birthday. I’m ashamed to say I’ve not been burning the candle for Drew as brightly as I should have been, but I pledge to change that.

In an age where celebrity seems to be dictated by the flashy and the fake, name me one star who has been able to go through the absolute wringer and come out the other side (which is amazing in itself), then build one of the biggest careers in Hollywood without a sniff of any real controversy or rage-stoking, have a family, seem pretty amicable with her exes, land her own epic talk show, and still ace the TV and movie game. Plus also, just seem like someone you want to be best friends with, you know?

Upon Drew’s birthday on Monday I was reminded on so many levels how this woman is the kind of celebrity we should be celebrating. You bloody know you wouldn’t see Drew take off to Dubai in a pandemic.

There is a real pure, wholesome love for her that I’ve noticed, which culminated in her name going bonkers on Twitter as many, many fans came together to share their adoration for Drew and her lispy, whispy perfection. Sza has even written a song called Drew Barrymore. Say no more.

On every level I’m woefully fangirly right now, I know, but her movies are enough to elicit the most respectful of bow downs.

When Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston teamed up for Murder Mystery everyone seemed to forget he already had a perfectly brilliant work wife in the form of Drew. And, ask me on any day and you’ll get the same answer: The Wedding Singer is not only peak Drew, but peak Adam.

Plus, Charlies Angles. ‘Nuff said. Or not – because I could go on all day over how little 10-year-old Mel felt all sorts of kick-butt inspired by Drew’s Dylan Sanders and (rightly) assumed women could rule the world. Throw in a little sprinkling of Destiny’s Child, Independent Women, Pt 1 and I am bloody unstoppable.

When she wasn’t kicking butt and driving monster trucks, Drew was the woman we were rooting for – because we could see ourselves in her characters. C’mon, you can’t play Josie Geller in Never Been Kissed and not lock in your perpetual admiration from a fandom.

And I’ve already made my feelings very clear on an ET sequel.

This is all from a woman who had a rough upbringing – which is putting it nicely.

The actress made her big screen debut aged just five before becoming a global child star aged seven in the classic ET. But her sudden fame led to an extremely troubled childhood plagued by drug and alcohol abuse, with Drew attending Studio 54 with her mother Jaid Barrymore before ending up in rehab at age 12. Speaking on The Howard Stern Show on Monday, Drew even explained that she was just 13 when she spent 18 months in a psychiatric facility.

Not everyone can come back from that. Yet Drew is a ray of sunshine and encourages positivity when, frankly, she has every reason to feel pretty neg about life’s struggles.

This also comes at a time when the plight and battles a lot of child stars has bubbled to the surface, none more so than Britney Spears, who continues to be under a conservatorship controlled by her father.

You may clutch your pearls at Drew’s so-called ‘wild child’ days, but I’d argue those days and what she’s done on the other side of them are what makes her the perfect inspiration to those who fear their f**k-ups will negatively define them for life.

Drew said it herself: ‘I have so much empathy toward so many people. I’m sure that people look on and think, “These party girls, these privileges, how dare they have feelings about any of this? They’ve put themselves out there, they’ve asked for this – it’s fair f**king game.” And I just go, “They’re humans. They’re just humans”.’

And as one fan wrote on Twitter of Our Drew: ‘She’s been through hell and back, and she’s come out the other side, to show people that you can be strength and your own strength. She’s amazing.’

My love for the woman this week culminated in a supercut of Drew absolutely losing it multiple times during her birthday episode, as she was greeted by BFF and Charlie’s Angels comrade Cameron Diaz, David Letterman, her daughters, and, as Drew put it, ‘the first person to care about me’, Steven Spielberg.

The woman has the absolute carefactor of zero when it comes to freely showing her emotions and we need more stars like that.

So I say down with robotic celebrities who paint a perfect picture of life – if we weren’t already done with the filtered version of famous people and in need of someone to truly learn from, let Drew lead the way.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.

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