Drew Barrymore: From Actress to Director

Drew Barrymore directed Whip It, a new crowd-pleaser about a roller derby team in Austin. She recently discussed the transition from actress to director.

Drew Barrymore spent three years developing Whip It, a new slice-of-life crowd-pleaser about an alienated girl, played by Ellen Page, who finds her niche in an Austin roller derby. Barrymore then directed the film, and co-starred. She didn’t write the script, but she also didn’t pick this project at random. In promoting Whip It, Barrymore has had a lot to say about how much the film means to her – plus her transition from acting to directing.

“I definitely thought the journey was more important than the destination,” Barrymore told The A.V. Club. “I just really wanted to know if I could do these things. I love acting and I love producing, but I did all that in my twenties and I wanted to make my thirties about these new challenges. It’s been panic-inducing and scary, but I’m glad I didn’t just sit back and take the easy road.”

Barrymore admitted to making a lot of sacrifice in getting this project done, which she did while preparing for a separate acting role as Kennedy family socialite “Little Edie” Beale.

“I have put relationships and my social life completely on the back burner and worked almost seven days a week for three years straight,” she told The A.V. Club. “Because I knew that no matter what, if I didn’t give a thousand percent, then I had no chance of accomplishing either of them, let alone succeeding in them. I don’t know if I succeeded in them, because I don’t know how to measure success other than to know that I didn’t leave any stone unturned. And I did try the hardest that I could, and did the best that I can.”

Barrymore is naturally very pretty, and aside from a breast reduction, doesn’t seem to have tried very hard to tweak her looks through plastic surgery. She goes further than many female celebrities in stressing the importance of beauty from the inside out. Still, Barrymore has struggled with self-image issues just like everyone else. In a recent interview, she couldn’t help but compare herself to Ellen Page, star of her directorial debut.

“Ellen has such a beautiful body, and I personally battled with my own body image for years,” she told Marie Claire magazine, “I used to tell myself, ‘You can’t wear anything sleeveless or strapless.; And all of a sudden I was like, ‘What if I just didn’t send such negative messages to my brain and said, wear it and enjoy it?’ And now I’m more comfortable in clothes than ever.”

Barrymore also seems to be more comfortable in her skin than ever before – and she hasn’t needed plastic surgery to skate into this feeling.